Ancient Black
by A.E. Story
Summary: Vincent discovers a structure out in wild lands, he can't explain it's existence, or why he's never come across it before. Finding out why may be the last thing he, or any of his companions, ever do.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **I don't own FFVII or any of its characters. All rights to the game and movie belong to Square-Enix, yadda-yadda and all that other legal stuff.

-By the way, as a note for all readers, as an original fan of FFVII I will refer to her as AERIS not AERITH. Not sure why they changed it, but I don't like the idea of changing her original name in the game.

**Prologue**

The building stood alone out in the middle of nowhere. The question of how someone would even be able to construct such a massive complex in such a wild environment was overshadowed by the question of _why_ someone would want to build such a massive complex in such a wild environment. There was no better way to guard a place than to surround it with monsters. It could be assumed the constructor had some kind of deal with the inhabitants of the land around it, doubtful as that may be. It would be the only reason to explain why the building was still standing and still in pristine condition. Not torn apart like most forms of civilization that attempted to make a home there. Most disconcerting of all things was the fact Vincent Valentine had never noticed it before. Not many things slipped by Vincent unnoticed. The grey sky behind him made his crimson cloak seem even more incongruent with his surroundings. Vincent stood out most places he went, in this place more so; it seemed as if he and the green grass were the only things with real colour today. The jet black building stood out in its own way, but not nearly as much as it should have. For the first time in a long time, Vincent stood and stared in puzzlement. How could he have not noticed this large jet black building before? Only a few miles from what was left of Midgar and on a bit more to the high ridge he stood upon now and here it was.

"Why have I never seen this before?" he muttered to himself, as per the trend his gruff voice seemed to stand out starkly in the empty void that was the world at that moment.

"Was it here before?" he asked himself. "Why haven't I seen this before?"

Someone tapped him on the shoulder and he turned, this however small action seemed much more graceful with Vincent as his red cloak swirled around him and then fell silently back to about as low as his feet. In front of him was a face he recognized as something else that should also not be here.

"What is this?" Vincent growled taking a defensive stance and putting a hand on his holstered gun. "You're not here!"

A female in pink clothing stood before him totally impassive, someone who should be dead.

Vincent relaxed, "Haven't you done enough popping up out of nowhere?" He was unsure of why he asked this question to the woman as it seemed like something he wouldn't say, have no reason to say.

The woman smiled and said in a melodic voice, "Don't you want to know why you've never noticed this building before?"

Vincent just nodded slowly.

"It's because this is a dream," the woman said.

"A dream," Vincent replied in confusion.

"Yes," the woman replied and continued to smile as the world exploded around Vincent.

§

Vincent's eyes shot open and he drew his pistol faster than most people could blink, for some reason his mind thought he might be in danger, at least proven by his drawn gun. Drawn gun pointed at a friendly face a few feet away. Vincent holstered the gun again. He wasn't going crazy, it's just that his reflexes still worked…that's all.

"Did I startle you?" asked Tifa smiling at him. The dark haired woman walked toward him, but Vincent focused on the smile. The smile…a figure shot into his mind and was gone again.

"You look preoccupied," Tifa commented with a look of concern.

"How so?" asked Vincent.

"People don't usually stare blankly at me like that," Tifa replied.

"I'm sure you get it from men all the time," Vincent replied deadpan.

Tifa was back to smiling, "Vincent, was that a compliment?"

Vincent used his usual cryptic answer: silence.

"You're a work in progress, but you're learning. Next we have to get you to start telling jokes, get you a sense of humour," Tifa said.

"I'd rather not," Vincent replied and looked off into the distance; somehow he knew he was looking off at something he knew of. His subconscious was telling him there was something over there he wanted to see. Another image popped into his mind, a building, and then a more familiar one, a woman in pink. "I just had a dream Tifa."

"Oh yeah, about what?" she asked.

Vincent was silent for a moment and took in where he was, after the dream it was as if he was disoriented. Maybe it was the fact he hadn't had an actual dream for many years, it had been a long time since he'd been interrupted in sleeping by a dream. He leaned back against the rock he was sleeping against. Sleep had become more of a formality with Vincent. Generally, Vincent didn't really need sleep so much. It did restore energy like it did with others, but he didn't _need_ sleep per se as much as others did.

"Come on, Vince," Tifa said, enjoying the fact he was initiating the conversation and sitting down beside him using the rock, "tell me."

"Don't call me Vince," he replied in his usual gruff deadpan.

"Sorry," she said, "_Vincent_, whatever, what was in your dream?"

"It was…a building," Vincent replied closing his eyes trying to picture it all again, the face of the woman appeared in his mind's eye. "No, I think she was more important."

"Who?" Tifa asked.

Vincent opened his eyes and looked to Tifa with a profoundly blank expression, which was about Vincent's only facial expression, "I saw her."

Over time everyone came to know exactly what someone meant when they said _her_. There was only one person they remembered in such a way that it only needed to be said that way: _her_.

"Really?" asked Tifa. "You had a dream about Aeris?"

"I had always thought that was Cloud's job," Vincent said, after a few moments of silence from Tifa he said. "That was a joke, Tifa."

"Oh," she said as if shaken from a trance.

"That's why I don't do jokes," Vincent said. "In any case, if I'm correct, one does not randomly dream of the Ancient unless of course she wishes to be dreamt of."

Tifa nodded, "Why you?"

"It is usually Cloud that…" Vincent paused. "Usually Cloud's job…now I see why the joke wasn't funny…hm."

Tifa chuckled, "You tried at least."

"It appears she wanted me to see the building she mentioned," Vincent said.

"Oh yeah, the building, which building exactly?" asked Tifa.

Vincent looked off in the distance, "Over that ridge."

Tifa shook her head, "There's nothing over there, it's all wild, just a lot of scary things that kill people over there. You'd never be able to get people there to build anything."

Vincent had no response.

"Well, let's go look," Tifa said.

"I fear if I don't I may be ignoring a warning from her," Vincent said, "but why me?"

"Maybe because you're the closest," Tifa said.

"Closest?" asked Vincent.

"Well you do happen to be incidentally sitting a walking distance away from where this building should be," Tifa said shrugging.

"I hadn't considered that," Vincent muttered.

"Well, let's go," Tifa said jumping up.

Vincent nodded and stood up in his usual slow and fluid manner of doing things. His cloak floated around him and settled in a similar fashion as always and some of his jet black hair was blown back by the gust of wind that breezed past him. He looked up at the grey sky, it looked like rain, and it also looked like the same sky as in his dream. Unnerving as that was Vincent followed Tifa. The pair couldn't have seemed more different. They both had the same hair colour and that's where their similarities ended. Where Tifa wore a black outfit Vincent's was crimson, Tifa walked in a manner like a young girl heading toward a new adventure, a bit of a spring in her step. Vincent walked as he always did, one foot in front of the other, red cloak moving with the wind and his momentum and then falling back to his feet as usual, no more, no less. Vincent did however watch Tifa walk from behind. Due to his past Vincent had become detached, if anything he had a right to be. He had very little interest in most things though he had quickly come accustomed to Cloud's cause a long time ago. As it turned out being part of the said cause put Vincent in the path of quite a few dangerous creatures. The reason for his sticking with Cloud and his companions was clouded at best, mostly to take revenge on Hojo, but to even Vincent himself it wasn't clear. Though he'd also become accustomed to doing things with very little explanation, even to himself. As he watched Tifa it might have been something like friendship he noticed, though he ignored it mostly as he was more interested in the way she walked. More like skipping, Vincent, due to his detachedness, had all but forgotten what exactly it was like to be genuinely happy. Somewhere in his mind he knew this is what happy was supposed to look like, but it was like having a dictionary filled with words in a language you can't translate. He continued to observe her as they walked, Tifa looking as if walking on air and Vincent as if walking with a large dark storm cloud above him.

"You know, you could actually walk beside me," Tifa said looking over her shoulder.

"I'm aware of this, yes," Vincent replied.

"Okay," Tifa just said and continued walking.

Vincent and Tifa walked as they had before; as they approached the ridge Vincent began to feel a bit uneasy. He brushed his red cloak behind him and grabbed the grip of his gun. After a few moments he drew the weapon. The grey revolver was pointed forward quickly.

"Problem?" asked Tifa looking around cautiously.

"Maybe I should walk in front," Vincent said looking around.

Tifa smiled, "What's up with you? You're acting strange."

Vincent said nothing and moved forward, Tifa humoured him and allowed Vincent to lead them up the ridge. The ridge seemed to pass under him in slow motion as he came to the top and in front of him he saw something he had, in a way, expected to see.

"Is that it?" asked Tifa.

Vincent stared out at the familiar black building, "The very same."

"Why have I never seen this before?" asked Tifa.

Vincent shivered a little and looked behind him expecting to see Aeris, "That's what I said…or rather what I didn't say, depending on your opinion of dreams."

"This is really weird, Vincent," Tifa said.

"I'm sure she knew you'd think that, go get some of the others, see if they know anything about it," Vincent said.

"You're not going in there are you?" asked Tifa.

Vincent again replied wordlessly, he took a few running steps and leapt off the edge of the ridge.


	2. Same Dream Different

-I'd like to start by pointing out that I'm not positive on the spelling of the name of the lady behind the waterfall, Hojo's wife, it's either Lucrecia or Lucretia, I will use the second one in the story but if that is incorrect spelling feel free to let me know.

**Chapter 1**

**Same Dream Different**

Cloud Strife was asleep, not that he knew that at this point, but he was. Cloud thought he was awake as he stood quietly on top of a ridge and looked down upon miles of empty field. The sky was a dull grey and the wind gently blew at his face, it was a calm day, weirdly calm. Cloud closed his eyes and opened them again; instead of the vast empty field he saw a large black building. His eyes narrowed.

"Well, that definitely wasn't there before," Cloud muttered. He wondered at exactly how a large black building might go about popping up out of nowhere. Cloud was about to start making his way down to check out the strange structure when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned.

"You want to know why you've never seen this place before?" asked the person behind him. It was a man Cloud didn't recognize. He was about Cloud's height but had long jet black hair, which was fitting because everything but his skin was also completely black. Including his eyes, not just the centre of his eye, his entire eye was just black.

"Who are you?" Cloud asked.

"That doesn't really matter does it?" asked the dark man in an ominous voice, the man sort of reminded him of Vincent. His sword though, that reminded him of Sephiroth. It was sheathed but its length and shape clearly resembled that of the Masamune Blade.

"I guess not," Cloud replied.

"So, do you want to know?" asked the dark man.

"Sure," Cloud replied.

The man smiled, "It's because you're dreaming."

§

Cloud awoke with a start and looked around; he was sitting in a chair. It took him a few moments to remember where he was. He was on the Highwind, he recalled talking to Cid, how long before he fell asleep he wasn't sure. The face of the dark man fluttered through his mind and disappeared.

"You're awake," Cid said walking onto the bridge of his ship.

"When did I fall asleep?" asked Cloud.

"Before or during Yuffie's explanation of why it's better to steal materia than to find it," Cid replied.

"Glad I missed it," Cloud said.

"Yeah, she wasn't too happy about it though," Cid said laughing.

"Where's everyone else?" asked Cloud.

"Tifa said she was going to find Vincent, everyone else left with Yuffie, they figured you must have had a few rough days," Cid said.

"Not really," Cloud replied, "kind of surprised I fell asleep, had a weird dream too."

"What about?" asked Cid.

"Big black building just appeared out of nowhere out in the wilderness, just like it…" Cloud was interrupted by Tifa storming on to the bridge of the Highwind.

"Cloud, Vincent found a big black building that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, neither of us has ever seen it before," Tifa said short of breath.

Cid looked at Cloud, "Weren't we just talking about this?"

Cloud nodded, "I just had a dream about a black building appearing out of nowhere, then someone tapped me on the shoulder and when I turned they asked if I wanted to know why I never noticed it before."

"Was it Aeris?" asked Tifa.

Cloud paused for a moment at the name and looked confused, "No, why?"

"Vincent had the same dream except he saw Aeris, who tapped you on the shoulder?" asked Tifa.

"I have no idea, I'd never seen the guy before," Cloud said.

"Sounds like you and Vincent had strangely similar dreams," Cid said, "and you say this building is really out there?"

Tifa nodded.

"Well, this I gotta see," Cid said, "let me get this baby in the air, tell me where to fly'er Tifa."

§

The Highwind made Tifa's trip much shorter, they were at the strange building in under a minute. Cid looked down on the building.

"It sure is there alright," Cid said, "when the hell did it get there is the question?"

"Vincent's already in there, we should make sure he's okay," Tifa said urgently.

"Vincent is a resilient guy; he'll be fine," Cloud said calmly, "Cid I want you to take the Highwind down low, low enough so Tifa and I can jump off. We don't know enough about this place and how dangerous it might be so I want your ship as far from harm as possible."

Cid nodded, "I'll be in for a quick pick up if you need it."

Cloud nodded as well and turned to Tifa, "Let's go see what Aeris wanted Vincent to see."

Tifa and Cloud waited for Cid to let them know he was as low as possible and the two of them hopped off. They immediately made for the building as the Highwind gained altitude again. Cloud drew his sword and Tifa donned her black gloves, they had no reason to think they might be attacked, but the place did look pretty suspicious. In truth they were both a little thankful for the action after how boring their life had become after Cloud had defeated Sephiroth…for the second time. They entered the building through a big door that was already ajar.

"Vincent went through the front door," Cloud muttered.

The two of them took in their surroundings; the inside was grey instead of black giving the place a very metallic look. It was as gloomy inside, however, as it looked outside. Ahead was a hallway with doors on each side.

"This all looks very Shinra," Cloud said quietly.

"Let's just find Vincent," Tifa said warily.

Cloud and Tifa both walked down the hallway, they each checked every door they passed and could find no way of opening them. None of them had doorknobs or any kind of keycard entry. They made it to the end of the hall and found yet another hallway to the left leading down to one big open door at the end. This door appeared to have a keypad for a code on the left side, or what was left of a keypad as it was a mess of wires and metal now.

"Looks like Vincent found a way to open the door," Tifa said smiling.

Cloud nodded and he and Tifa went down the hall and through the door. Inside was a massive room, a room that almost looked too big for the entire building to hold. On the walls of the room surrounding it was tubes, big tubes, Cloud recognized them and his eyes narrowed.

"They look like the kind of thing they kept Jenova in," Cloud said ominously.

"You think this is some sort of laboratory?" asked Tifa.

"I think it is much more than that," answered a gruff voice to their right. They both turned and saw Vincent standing in another door way.

"Vincent, you're okay," Tifa said smiling.

"The place is deserted; there are a lot of things left behind, though. It looks as if this was, in fact, some kind of laboratory, but not your conventional one."

"How so?" asked Cloud.

"Well, you see these tubes?" asked Vincent indicating the tubes surrounding the room. "These aren't for holding things as much as they are for…_receiving_ things."

"Receiving?" asked Cloud putting away his sword.

"I know, it sounds strange, I read some notes of a person who worked here," Vincent said, "this was a lab that was working on a sort of…time travel."

"Really?" asked Tifa.

"The original idea was to create a machine that could send someone back in time to change things, but they quickly realized this would be a very bad idea. So they revised their idea. Instead of sending people back they found a way to get people to come forward to our time," Vincent explained.

"They found a way to resurrect people?" asked Tifa.

"In more than one way, one note provides the information that they did in fact bring back one such person that did remember dying. They mentioned that they truly did bring this person back from the dead, they also said Hojo would be pleased to hear of their developments," Vincent said. "That's the most recent document I could find."

"Hojo," Cloud muttered, "you think this place might have something to do with you Vincent?"

Vincent looked around, "What exactly was done to me I'm not even entirely clear on. They had nothing like this at the Shinra Mansion; I don't think this has anything to do with me. It may have had something to do with Sephiroth however."

"Oh no," Cloud muttered. "That's who they brought back."

Vincent smiled a bit, "That's what I thought as well. If that were true then they must have found a way to send him back. Whoever it is they did bring back must have had something to do with why there's nobody left."

"Can it still be done, the resurrecting thing I mean?" asked Tifa.

"Whatever powers this place and I assume whatever does the resurrecting is still active, I believe, because the artificial lighting is operational, there are more documents I can go through to find out more," Vincent said.

"Anything on why this place just appeared out of nowhere?" asked Cloud.

"On that, I have found nothing," Vincent said, "there's nothing in the files about the lab having any defense mechanism that makes it disappear or anything like that."

"I'm just worried about what would happen if this place disappeared again with us in it," Tifa said looking around warily.

"I don't believe Aeris would have shown me this place unless she wanted me to find something specific," Vincent said.

"I agree, but we need to talk about your dream," Cloud said.

"My dream?" asked Vincent.

"I had a similar one," Cloud replied.

Vincent looked a bit surprised, "How similar?"

"Just about everything except Aeris," Cloud said. "Someone was in her place."

Vincent nodded behind him, "There are chairs in this room maybe we should sit."

Cloud and Tifa did so, but Vincent moved around the room throwing aside files and looking over ones he hadn't read yet.

"Who replaced her?" asked Vincent as he searched through the files.

"I don't know, it was a man with black hair, about as long as Sephiroth's, he also had Sephiroth's sword. His clothing and eyes were both black, in fact the only thing that wasn't black was his skin and teeth," Cloud said.

Vincent at first didn't respond, then he lifted a piece of paper and read, "Every time we attempted to bring one back someone else would come with them."

"Bring one what back?" asked Tifa.

Vincent grabbed the brown folder the page was in and read the front, "Live Experiment number 23: the resurrection of a Cetra."

Cloud stood up, "Cetra!"

"Why were they trying to bring back Ancients?" asked Vincent.

"They do a good enough job making appearances on their own," Cloud muttered thinking of Aeris.

"Shinra was always trying to grab Aeris," Tifa said, "maybe they thought it would make more sense to try and bring back a dead one."

"Every time they tried to bring a Cetra back someone else came with them," Vincent said and looked for a moment coming up with another page. "Each different Cetra brought with them a different person, sometimes female, sometimes male. There was no discernible pattern, but these people appeared to be some kind of guardian to the Cetra."

"As if someone thought someone might try this," Cloud said, "one of these guardians got free and killed everyone."

"Where's the bodies, the blood, where is the guardian and the Cetra?" asked Vincent.

"Maybe they are long dead, maybe there was some sort of side affect of being brought back and they both died from it," Cloud said.

Vincent looked through the pages again and pulled up yet another paper and nodded, "Each of the so called guardians had one noticeable pattern of appearance. Black eyes and black attire, all white in skin colour and long black hair." Vincent paused, "all armed with identical Masamune Blades."

"The man in my dream," Cloud muttered.

"I believe that Aeris contacted me and her guardian contacted you," Vincent said. "Again the question is why?"

"It doesn't make any sense," Tifa said shaking her head.

Vincent looked up suddenly, "Hojo, they mentioned Hojo multiple times in these files."

"That's not really surprising, he was pretty high up there as far as science goes," Cloud understated.

"I need to speak with someone," Vincent said a paused a moment, he looked as if he had trouble saying the next word but managed it, "one who knew him best."

Tifa looked confused, "Rufus?"

Cloud shook his head, "Lucretia."

"You two should stay, I will return shortly, hopefully with answers," Vincent said.

"We'll call in the others while we wait," Cloud said.

Vincent nodded and moved toward the door.

Cloud stood, "Vincent, are you sure about this?"

Vincent looked over his shoulder.

"Lucretia, you two…do you want me to talk to her?" asked Cloud.

"I'll be fine," Vincent said.

"Alright," Cloud replied nodding.

"Cloud," Vincent said and stopped to think about what he was about to say.

"Yeah," he replied.

"If I told you…if I told you I could…bring her back," Vincent said, "Aeris, if I could bring her back, would you want me to?"

Cloud was silent; this wasn't exactly a question he had ever planned on answering in his life. "If she was gonna come back with a guardian that would try to kill us all, no."

It wasn't the straightest of answers, but Vincent accepted it, "Fair enough, I will return shortly."


	3. Foot Steps

**Chapter 2**

**Foot Steps**

Cloud and Tifa continued to do what they had been doing for what seemed to be hours: walking around and constantly looking up. Looking up as if the high roof held some answers.

"What exactly are you two looking for?" asked a familiar voice, Cloud and Tifa turned to see someone they hadn't entirely expected.

"Reno," Tifa said in a voice that sounded unsure as to whether she should consider him an enemy at the moment. He and the Turks had helped them in the past, most notably back in the days of the Geostigma.

"Whatever it is, I guarantee you won't find it on the roof," Reno said, "even if it was up there I don't know where you'd get a ladder big enough to get that high."

"What do you know about this place?" asked Cloud.

Reno looked at him curiously, "It appeared out of nowhere."

"That's it?" asked Tifa.

"How much can a guy know about something that just up and appeared out of nowhere?" asked Reno.

The two of them stared at the Turk trying to tell if he was playing dumb.

"I thought you Turks knew about everything," said a gruff voice from behind Reno, the Turk turned to see Cid Highwind accompanied by the rest of the stereotypical gang Reno saw with Cloud: Barret Wallace, Yuffie, Red XIII with a Cait Sith hanging comically off his back.

"The whole family's back together again I see," Reno said, "I don't see Bahamut so this must be for this strange little structure standing in the middle of nowhere. To answer your question Turks know about everything related to Shinra, therefore this is not something related to Shinra."

"There's a document in the next room and it mentions Hojo," Cloud challenged.

Reno looked surprised, "Then this is one hell of a side project."

"Interesting," Red XIII said trotting over to Reno, staring for a moment and then moving past as if to survey the large room. "Shinra constructed, but Shinra doesn't know about it."

"This sounds like it's gonna be really confusing," Yuffie complained.

"This sounds a bit like time travel!" Cait Sith said excitedly bouncing on Red XIII's back.

Everyone looked at Cait Sith.

"What exactly do you know about time travel?" asked Reno.

"Oh, well, nothing, I just mean that's what it sounds like to me," Cait Sith said.

"I think we should check the place out before we draw any conclusions," Tifa said.

"Now that's the kind of uncomplicated goal I like," Yuffie said.

"Alright then, nobody goes anywhere alone!" Barret ordered.

"He is correct," Red XIII agreed, "we don't know nearly enough about this construct."

"There are a lot of locked doors that I can't figure how to open," Cid said. "If it's the same way with every damned door in this place it's gonna be a short exploration."

"This place does look pretty Shinra," Reno added, "if there's a way to open the doors I should be able to find it. That is of course if you don't mind my tagging along."

"Don't you have some…Turk stuff…to do?" asked Yuffie.

"Don't know if you really noticed, dear, but Shinra's in a bit of a mess," Reno said condescendingly, "if you were paying attention while you were trying to save the world you'd remember the Turks really don't have much of a job anymore. Though I do still keep this snazzy outfit, wouldn't feel right losing the suit, you know?"

"Whatever," Yuffie said grabbing the closest person, which happened to be Cid, and dragging them off. "Come on, let's go find something useful."

Cid reluctantly let himself be dragged away and that was cue enough for everyone else to start searching. Cloud went off with Tifa and Red XIII always traveled with Cait Sith on his back nowadays. That left the unlikely pairing of Reno and Barret.

"Well, we could break your 'nobody travels alone' rule just this once," Reno suggested.

"Sounds like a damn good idea," Barret said and moved off alone.

"Alright, guess there's no chance we're gonna be friends, eh?" asked Reno. Barret grunted something inaudible, "okay then, see ya later!"

The combined efforts of the group still left much of the huge building unchecked, what they did find didn't give them any answers. Most of the doors were locked and appeared to have no way of opening, Reno, to his surprise, could find no way to get the doors to move.

"Looks Shinra, smells Shinra," Reno growled, "but it ain't Shinra. So who the hell made this place?"

§

Cloud and Tifa found a hallway, one of many, that led to an open side door. Inside was what looked like living quarters. The place was as immaculate as the rest of the building; it looked as if no one had ever been in the place. The only thing that betrayed the look of desertion was the fact there appeared to be some folders similar to the ones Vincent had been looking through before. There were three such folders, only one had any paper in it. Cloud bent down and picked it up; he pulled out the single piece of paper and read it.

"What's it say?" asked Tifa.

"Sounds like some routine scientist stuff," Cloud said, for some reason he decided to check the back of the page. What he saw made him jump back a bit. "Tifa…"

"Whoa, is that blood?" asked Tifa.

On the back of the page was four words written in what looked like blood but could have been any red substance.

"Don't bring them back," Cloud read the words.

"Bring who back," Tifa muttered.

"Probably the Cetra," Cloud replied, "because of the guardians I'd say. This is the first proof of anyone actually being here. If this is blood then why was this person the only one left alive to write a message?"

"This place leaves too many questions and not enough answers," Tifa said shaking her head.

§

Barret ran into Red XIII and Cait Sith due to some confusing hallways and decided to explore onward together. They ran into a long series of identical doors that wouldn't open until they came to a hallway that led straight into a large open door, one similar to the one that led into the room with the tubes they had been in.

"Perhaps an identical room," Red XIII said.

"That would be bad, wouldn't it?" asked Cait Sith.

Barret just nodded and led the way, "Keep your eyes open, if there's anything other than us in there kill it!"

"This place looks quite deserted; I doubt there's going to be anything in there," Red XIII replied.

"Hell if I know, don't like this place one bit, just keep your eyes open," Barret retorted entering through the doorway.

They stepped into an identical room as the one before, tubes surrounded them. In fact identical was very literal. The room was _exactly_ the same in every aspect, dead quiet, a nondescript grey as everything else in the building and just as deserted.

"Now where the hell is everybody?" asked Barret, "big place like this and no damn people, something's wrong here!"

"I believe you are correct, my friend," Red XIII said, "but whatever is wrong has already happened, I believe that whatever happened here has happened and has left. This place holds no answers for us."

"I think we should've just left it alone and hoped it went away again," Cait Sith muttered.

§

Cid and Yuffie stood in what seemed their thousandth dull grey hallway; each one was the same, doors that won't open, grey, grey, more dull grey.

"You'd think they could have at least had some flowers or something," Yuffie complained.

Cid looked at the small girl and then shook his head, "Come on, let's just go find everyone else and get the hell outta this place. There's nothing here."

"You got something better to do?" asked Yuffie.

"Yeah, I'd rather do a lot of things than walk around this place forever, wouldn't you?" Cid asked then waved his hand, "don't answer that, I don't care what you do in your spare time. I'm getting outta this place."

"Hey, you can't leave me alone here!" Yuffie said.

"Watch me," Cid muttered looking around and then going in a direction that he thought might be the way they came.

"Barret said no one goes anywhere alone!" Yuffie warned.

"Take a look, does it look like I give a damn what Barret said?" asked Cid rhetorically and started walking away.

"Fine, don't need you anyways!" growled Yuffie and walked in the opposite direction. After a few second of walking Yuffie stopped as she heard a noise. "Cid, is that you?" She turned and looked behind her, then looked back ahead.

She heard another noise, this time like a tapping. It sounded like small footsteps, small footsteps coming toward her. Yuffie looked around frantically, "Who's there?" Yuffie was about to draw her weapon when the small footsteps sounded like they were coming from a different direction. Her heart was racing, knowing she could easily come face to face with the thing that wiped out everyone who had been working in the building. The small noise sounded like they were behind her now, Yuffie froze, preparing herself to turn and attack whatever it was coming up behind her. The small feet noises were clearly coming closer. She was determined to let the thing think she was unaware right up to when she attacked. Her heart was beating so loud it almost drowned out the tapping of the feet behind her, she was ready to turn and attack when the noise stopped and started again quickly. This time it sounded like it was in front of her again. She looked down the hall in front of her in confusion, the footsteps sounded like they were approaching again, this time from the front.

"What is wrong with this place?" she whispered, the small noises got louder as they seemed to approach. It suddenly occurred to her that whatever this thing was it might be invisible…invisible and watching her.

Yuffie, wishing she hadn't left Cid, finally lost it and turned to run, ready to sprint all out until she was sure she was far away from the noise. As her body made the one-eighty turn her eyes made out the figure standing in front of her and it took only a split second for the rest of her to react to the sight and scream. The piercing scream could likely be heard throughout the whole building, and it would have gone on longer had she not run into the thing in front of her accidentally and it wrapped its arms around her.

"Are you alright?" asked Vincent looking at her. Her eyes were closed tightly ready for whatever the thing was to kill her. As she heard his voice her eyes slowly opened, after a few moments she looked up and saw the face of their mysterious friend who had been absent when they arrived.

"Vincent, you scared the…" Yuffie found she had trouble talking, her heart was beating so fast and she was shaking so bad her words caught in her throat.

Vincent could physically feel her shaking, "What did you see?"

It took her a few seconds to finally be able to speak, her mind came to terms with the fact she was now with a friend, in his arms no less, and it allowed her to use her voice. "I didn't see anything."

"What?" asked Vincent.

"I mean, I _heard _something, it sounded like foot steps, small ones," Yuffie said, "they sounded like they were in front, then behind, then in front again…I could never see anything…I could just hear them."

"You didn't see anything?" asked Vincent, "disembodied foot steps, you're sure it wasn't something else?"

"Of course I'm sure!" she said indignantly and glared at him, getting some of her old self back, "I'm not crazy or anything!"

Vincent's blank stare completely disarmed her; it was hard to be angry at someone who always had a face that looked like it both understood everything and nothing at the same time.

"I wasn't suggesting that you were insane, I just mean it could be something caught in the ventilation system, something like that," Vincent said.

"Well, it wasn't, I heard foot steps!" Yuffie was adamant about the foot steps. "You can let me go now, I'm fine."

Vincent did so and stepped back, "I may have found some answers but nothing very clear."

"Where did you go?" asked Yuffie.

"To see someone who may have had answers," Vincent replied, "let's go see if we can find the others. I spotted Cid on the way here, I instructed him to tell everyone he saw to meet back where you all started."

Yuffie nodded and followed Vincent back the way she'd come with Cid, she took one look back and suddenly heard the foot steps again. She jumped and grabbed Vincent's right arm. "There it is again!"

Vincent nodded and looked around, "I heard it, too."

Yuffie realized she was clinging to his arm and let go, Vincent drew his gun and looked around. "Stay near." He ordered and started walking around cautiously, trying to follow the noise. After a while Vincent stopped and turned to Yuffie, "It's walking back and forth."

"The foot steps?" asked Yuffie.

"Yes, they're continually going back and forth, that's why you heard them in front and then behind, and in front again," Vincent replied.

"So where are they coming from?" asked Yuffie.

"Of that I have no idea," Vincent replied following the noises curiously.

"Weird," Yuffie murmured.

"Not surprising for such a place," Vincent said holstering his gun, "we should find the others; I may have an explanation for this."

"Really?" asked Yuffie.

"Well, it's really more of a guess," Vincent admitted.

"Better than nothing," Yuffie said.

The two of them walked away from the strange foot steps and almost immediately ran into Reno was ran on from their left side from a connecting hallway. Yuffie and Reno both jumped in surprise, Vincent, as always, was calm.

"I swear I came by here before," Reno said, "then again this place all looks the same."

"I know the way," Vincent said, curiously not inquiring as to why Reno was here.

"He showed up before us," Yuffie said without Vincent asking.

"It doesn't matter, we have no enemies here, for now," Vincent said, "I know the way."

Reno watched Vincent go by and looked at Yuffie curiously and just decided to follow.

"Place is getting weirder by the minute," Reno muttered.

The three of them easily found their way back to where the search had begun, thanks to Vincent they were the only ones back.

"I may have to go find them," Vincent said.

After a few moments Cid appeared with everyone else.

"This place is really hard to get around in, everything looks the same," complained Cid.

"Vincent, you're back," Tifa said smiling, "find anything out?"

"Not as much as I'd hoped, but Lucrecia did know something about Hojo's experiments with time. Unfortunately we may have a complicated issue, as far as she knows Hojo never even started the project as Sephiroth came first. So this place never existed," Vincent said.

"So then how the hell're we standing in it?" asked Barret.

"Hojo created it," Vincent replied.

"You just said Hojo didn't get around to it," Tifa said looking confused.

"Not in this time he didn't," Vincent said.

"Huh?" asked Yuffie.

"I see," Red XIII said, "you're suggesting a Hojo from a different time and place created this."

"You're saying this place came from another time?" asked Cloud.

"The future," Vincent said, "how or why I don't know."

"Okay, so this place was made and the experiments were done by a Hojo from the future," Cloud said shaking his head, "so then how come everyone's gone?"

"I have a theory," Vincent said, "I believe they couldn't survive travel to a past that they didn't exist in."

"What?" asked Yuffie hopelessly lost.

"This place is not only from a different time, but also likely from a different plane of existence altogether," Vincent said.

"Wait, wait, hold it," Cloud said waving a hand, "you mean like an alternate dimension?"

"Exactly," Vincent replied.

"I'm lost," Cid said, "alternate dimensions? So you mean these guys died because they came to an alternate dimension they didn't belong in?"

"I believe so," Vincent said.

"I can see Hojo coming up with something crazy like that," Reno said shaking his head.

"So then what about the foot steps?" asked Yuffie.

Everyone looked at her curiously and Vincent immediately filled them in on the noises he and Yuffie had heard, then continued. "This is of course a guess, but I think the foot steps trapped in a back and forth motion might be a person who is stuck between times or dimensions."

"Someone who is still enough in their own world to be alive and enough in ours so we can hear their foot steps," Red XIII said, "could we communicate?"

"I wouldn't recommend it from our end," Vincent said, "even talking to someone from here may result in it killing them. Although I have one more thing to show you that could let us talk to this person."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Yuffie muttered.

"You and me both, sweetheart," Reno agreed.

"I know of a way to send someone back, rather forward, to the time of this person," Vincent said.

"Wait, if you send someone where they don't exist, wouldn't they die?" asked Tifa.

"So we send someone we know must exist," Vincent said.

Red XIII nodded, "We can assume that this alternate world must have some similarities to our own or it would not exist. So therefore at least one of us must exist in that world."

"Which one of us?" asked Cloud.

"Damn high stakes to be betting on an assumption, Vince," Cid said, "it could be any of us."

"I know exactly who it is," Vincent said, "and don't call me Vince."

"Who is it?" asked Tifa.

"Aeris," Vincent replied.

"Great, well, guess that means we can all go home," Reno said, "because she ain't here!"

"She isn't now," Red XIII said, "but we could bring her back."

Cloud's eyes widened, "As great as this all sounds aren't we forgetting about the guardians?"

"He's right," Tifa said, "and do we really need to go back that bad? I mean, honestly, it's not like this big building is a threat to us deserted."

Vincent gave her a blank stare that told her otherwise.

"Is it?" she asked, less sure of herself.

"If it remains in the incorrect plane of existence," Red XIII said wisely, "it will begin to tear our world apart."

"This building doesn't exist here, this technology, not invented," Vincent explained. "This is a very serious paradox."

Everyone was silent for a few moments until Reno spoke up, "Well, that's just dandy…when do we bring her back?"

"Right now," Vincent said, "we bring her back right now, before it's far too late."


	4. The Black Creatures

**Chapter 3**

**The Black Creatures**

Reno had never run around so frantically in his life, he wasn't the only one. Vincent was yelling out orders and people were scrambling as fast as possible to do what he asked. As soon as Vincent said something about the end of the world, naturally, everyone was going a mile a minute. It might have been because of what they were rushing toward…the Ancient. Reno of course didn't exactly have a healthy relationship with Aeris Gainsborough, but he knew well enough everyone else there did. The only reason he hadn't scurried off was because when a guy like Vincent Valentine says something about the end of the world you generally tend to believe him.

Vincent was reading over some files he'd pulled from the connected room, luckily for them the files on how to work all the machinery was very simply laid out. Being that the place looked more and more like a Shinra construction…but from the future…combined with the fact Vincent had once worked for Shinra, made the process very quick. Time wasn't on their side to begin with.

"Do we have any idea what else is gonna come back with her?" Reno asked Vincent.

"You mean like other than one of those creepy guardians?" asked Yuffie.

"Yes," Reno replied.

"No, no idea," Vincent replied not looking up from the files.

"Great," Reno muttered.

"Hit that switch over there while you think about it," Vincent said pointing to a switch a few feet away.

Reno sighed and did so.

"How much longer?" asked Yuffie who had just finished connecting one item she knew nothing about to another item she knew nothing about.

"According to the files," Vincent read it over for a second, "Cloud, we need Materia."

Cloud looked up from what he was doing with surprise, "This thing runs on Materia?"

"Apparently," Vincent replied.

"That would have been nice to know in advance," Yuffie muttered.

"I can get anywhere in no time," Cid said, "just any Materia?"

"Lightning element," Vincent said, "says here they specifically calibrated it for lightning."

"Go to Aeris' church, they're all there," Cloud said.

Cid nodded and charged away.

"What happens after Cid gets the Materia?" asked Tifa.

"Then we turn it on and hope the guardian doesn't kill us before we explain ourselves," Vincent said.

"Y'know I really hate how you answer questions," Reno complained, "you said that kind of thing when you could have just said 'then we bring her back' or 'then we turn on the machine.' Did you really have to be so painfully obvious?"

Vincent just looked at Reno unsure how to respond.

"Shut the hell up and hit the switch Turk," Barret yelled from across the big room.

Vincent shrugged and looked back to the files, "Not too long now."

§

Outside, Cid sprinted out the front doors of the black building and headed immediately toward his airship. He was only a few feet from the Highwind when he noticed the two people walking around the ship as if inspecting it. Cid slid to a halt; the two figures didn't notice him as they had their backs to him. On closer inspection the two weren't actually people in the sense of humans.

"What the hell?" Cid muttered slowly readying his spear. Cid was no expert on the monsters that roamed this area; he didn't focus on much of what happened on the ground as he was more interested in the sky. He knew well enough, though, to know that whatever these two things were they didn't belong here. They were completely black, much like the building, and about Cid's height. There was no distinction of clothing to skin, they were just black. They carried no weapons Cid could see and they walked like your average person, they seemed interested in his ship, too.

"Cid, Vincent wanted me to tell you…" Tifa stopped talking suddenly and grinded to a halt much like Cid had as she noticed the two strange things looking at the Highwind. This time they noticed her, she had spoken loud enough that the two things turned to look at her and in turn saw Cid.

"So much for a fuckin' surprise attack," Cid murmured to himself.

"What are they?" asked Tifa.

Now that the black things faced them it was clear they were just as blank from the front. They had no eyes, no mouth, the back of their head showed no discernible differences to their faces.

"Askin' the wrong guy," Cid said tightening his grip on his spear and simultaneously lighting a cigarette in his mouth.

The two back things seemed to suddenly grow swords out of their hands, rather their hands became swords.

"Not friendly suckers anyways," Cid said.

"Vincent said you're gonna need lightning and fire Materia, he found something else in the file," Tifa said. "You need to get on the Highwind; I'll take care of those two things."

"Start running," Cid said and put action to words. He charged with his spear forward, Tifa just behind him. The two black things jumped into the air and in moments were coming down on top of them.

Cid aimed his spear up and impaled one of them on it quickly tossing the thing off his weapon and sending it bouncing away. Tifa evaded the second one and came back with a punch that would have killed most monsters. The black thing staggered back but didn't seem to be very damaged by the attack.

"Cid, is yours dead?" Tifa asked.

Cid looked at the creature he'd impaled as it started to get back up, "Sure as hell should be."

Tifa ducked under a swipe of her enemy's sword and quickly kicked it in the stomach, again only staggering it. Knowing one attack wouldn't be enough Tifa pressed forward attacking it with as many punches and kicks she could fit in before it countered. Tifa ducked under one sword and quickly jumped into a back flip to avoid the quick second blade. As she landed Tifa dived forward into a roll, as she stopped on her back she kicked up with both feet hitting the thing square in the jaw. The black creature was sent flying high up into the air.

"Tifa, on the Highwind, now, these things ain't dyin'!" Cid yelled.

Tifa nodded and ran toward the airship as her enemy hit the ground again and started to get up. Cid tripped his opponent with the back of his spear and drove the front into its head. It stopped moving.

"Well, I think I killed this one," Cid said, he drew out the spear and the thing started getting up again. "To hell with it, this is fucked up!"

Cid turned and followed Tifa. The two were on the Highwind quickly and Cid got it into the air. They looked frantically down to the ground.

"They're gone," Tifa said.

"If they ain't on the ground good chance they're on my ship," Cid growled, he readied his spear and headed out from the bridge, Tifa followed.

"We can't kill them," Tifa said.

"So we just knock 'em off my damn ship," Cid muttered.

They walked slowly through the Highwind looking around; they figured their enemy should stand out as they would be the only two completely black things on the ship moving around, though they both knew also that they knew very little about their enemy and knew that they might have the ability to blend with their surroundings.

"Maybe they didn't get on," Tifa said as a black sword protruded from the wall beside her and jabbed Cid in the left arm.

"Son of a…" his last word was drowned out by a growl and the sound of his spear jabbing through the hole made by the sword and stabbing into the black creature on the other side. Tifa noted that the thing made no noise when it was attacked.

"Put a hole in my ship, bastard," Cid growled pushing the spear further into the black creature. In response the thing seemed to suddenly become like liquid and suddenly appeared on their side of the wall. "You just full of surprises aren't ya?"

Tifa quickly came around Cid's right and kicked the thing in the chest sending it sailing down the hall.

"You get that thing off my ship, I'll find the other one," Cid growled.

Tifa nodded and Cid turned to see the second creature a few feet away.

"Oh, well, found it," Cid muttered.

Tifa didn't hear him as she charged toward the first black thing. It jabbed both swords forward but Tifa was too fast for it and she quickly sidestepped both and gave it a kick to the stomach that again sent it flying backward until it hit the door at the end. She knew outside was the platform they had jumped from to parachute into Midgar around two years ago, the perfect place to get them off the ship. Tifa gave one more kick to the black thing and it blew through the door and out on to the platform. Tifa followed it out as it got to its feet. This time it initiated the attack and charged at her, both blades at the ready. It slashed left and Tifa backpedaled stepping out of reach by centimeters. It jabbed its right blade forward, it would have connected had Tifa not stepped to the right. The thing's left hand blade crossed over its right and jabbed quickly at her, she grabbed the blade with both hands, each on the flat sides of the blade and pulled backwards. It sent the monster stumbling forward. Tifa then quickly spun and gave a final kick to the creature's back sending it over the railing and off the platform. It fell silently, still not a sound coming from the creature as it fell. Tifa stood at the railing and made sure it hit the ground, she didn't want the thing coming back. After she was satisfied it was gone she turned quickly to check on Cid.

Cid parried one blade and ducked under the second; he dexterously kicked the creature in the stomach and spun to drive the spear into where his foot had been. Every time the thing hit his spear the vibration made the wound in his arm hurt a little bit more, not enough to slow him down any though. Cid kept the thing impaled on his spear and spun in a full three-sixty, after he thought he had enough momentum he kicked the thing off his spear and it shot through the air flipping end over end toward the open door leading out the platform where Tifa had been fighting her own enemy.

Tifa saw the black thing flying toward her and immediately jumped into the air and made herself vertical with the ground. She got enough height and hang time to stay above the creature as it flew under her and out the door. The thing had enough air to keep going right over the railing and off the platform. Tifa hit the ground and rolled gracefully to her feet.

"Sorry," Cid said somewhat inadequately and put a hand over his injured arm.

"You okay?" Tifa asked.

"Flesh wound, let's get that Materia," Cid said wincing at the cut in his arm as he turned away from her. He was back on the bridge and got the Highwind going in the direction it needed to go.

"This is taking a lot longer than expected," Tifa said smiling a little.

"Wasn't expecting the damn freaky black things," Cid growled taking the cigarette out of his mouth for the first time since putting it in back on the ground. He let out a puff of smoke, knocked off the ash from the end of the cigarette and put it back in his mouth.

The Highwind was over the church in a few minutes, Tifa looked down on the beat up old building.

"Hasn't changed a bit," Tifa muttered.

"Except for maybe the residents," Cid muttered pointing her attention to something outside the front of the church.

"Oh no," Tifa said.

Another of the black things was out front.

"Wonder how many more of these damn things there are," Cid said.

"I'm faster than you, drop me off on the roof, I can get in through that hole there and grab the Materia we need," Tifa said.

"You ain't faster than me," Cid said, "I'll go you keep my ship in the air."

"I'm surprised you can run at all with all the smoking you do," Tifa said.

"Smoking never stopped me from running," Cid replied.

"You're wounded," Tifa said gesturing to his arm.

"It's nothing," Cid said dismissively.

"Why are you trying to protect me all of a sudden?" asked Tifa grinning.

"Just don't want ya to screw it up," Cid said, he paused, "Cloud'd kill me if he knew I let another female member of our group die, too."

"You had nothing to do with Aeris," Tifa replied.

"I know, but I didn't stop it, did I?" Cid said and shook his head, "Look, why are we arguing about this, it's my ship we're on and I say I'm going."

"Fine," Tifa said, "he wouldn't be too happy if you died either, you realize."

"Just keep the damn ship from crashing," Cid said waving a hand and heading toward the platform.

He looked over the railing and saw the roof wasn't far down at all. He vaulted over the railing and landed heavily on the church. Almost immediately two black things came out of the hole and on to the roof.

"Ah, damn it," Cid muttered and charged headlong toward the black creatures. He managed to shove them both aside with his spear and jumped down into the church, he navigated his way off the roof and on the ground. Immediately he spotted the collection of Materia Cloud kept in the church, right beside the flowers. Cid also noticed three more black things coming in through the front doors of the church.

Cid muttered a complaint and quickly sorted through the Materia. He found a fire and a lightning and quickly turned back toward the hole in the roof. The two black things he'd encountered on the roof were now on the ground in front of him, two more were coming down through the hole.

"How many are there?" Cid asked rhetorically and turned to the front doors of the church. There were now a total of five at the front doors and four behind him.

Quickly, Cid equipped the lightning Materia and turned to the four behind him, "If you guys are immune to magic I'm gonna be very pissed."

Cid cast Bolt3 on the four behind him, they weren't immune.

The four creatures were blown off their feet and landed heavily on the ground a few feet away, they did, however, get back up.

"Still can't kill you guys," Cid muttered shaking his head and moving for the hole in the roof. Cid climbed and got out on the roof, the black things were on his heels as all nine of them from the church were on the roof in seconds.

Cid cast another round of Bolt3s at the black things but they recovered relatively quickly. It gave Cid enough time to jump on the platform of the Highwind. Four of the black things got on before they were away from the church.

Cid stood on the platform staring at four enemies. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it on the ground followed by his boot crushing it.

"Alright, then," Cid said readying his spear, "come and get it!"

In response the four attacked at once, Cid spun and the dull end of his spear tripped all four of them sending them all on their backs.

"What, that's it?" asked Cid in a cocky manner, "good thing you guys can't die it'll give me a chance to kick your ass more often!"

They got up and turned to Cid, this time only two attacked, Cid parried the blades of one and had to jump back to evade the other. Cid smashed one across the head with the dull end of his spear and drove the front of the spear into the second black thing's stomach. He tossed the impaled enemy off the platform and turned to face the second one. It took Cid a second to realize he couldn't see the other two remaining enemies when he heard them behind him. Cid was fast enough to evade the blade that swiped overhead but couldn't avoid the attack from in front. The blade jabbed right through his left shoulder and out the back.

"Same fucking arm," Cid growled, "at least go for a different limb!"

Cid yelled a curse and tackled the black thing in front, he knocked it over the railing and in turn the blade slid out of his shoulder. Cid growled at the pain but ignored it enough to turn his attention to his final two enemies. They both stood still as if staring at him.

"Well, come on, I ain't got all day," Cid said readying his spear only in his right hand now as his left hung uselessly at his side. The two seemed to come to a decision and charged at Cid. Cid quickly jumped forward and hit the ground sliding toward the two things, Cid's foot tripped one up and the second caught its feet on his spear. They both stumbled and fell over the railing.

Cid stood up unsteadily and looked over the railing to watch all four run around frantically on the ground.

"Yeah, I know, but I don't take hitchhikers," Cid yelled down at them not caring whether they understood or not.

He made his way to the bridge. Tifa looked up from her spot where she was controlling the ship and saw Cid's shoulder.

"Oh, no, they hit you again," Tifa said quickly putting the ship on auto pilot and running to Cid. "I don't have any healing items with me."

Cid waved her off, "Don't matter, I'll survive."

"Okay, now you're understating it, don't you have anything on the Highwind?" asked Tifa worriedly.

"I survived Emerald Weapon; this is nothing," Cid muttered, "just need to sit down."

Tifa helped him to a seat, "We'll be back at the building in a few minutes, and I'm sure Cloud's got some potions on him."

"That'd be nice, but I'll survive," Cid said dismissively.

"Quit doing that," Tifa said, "you've got a hole in your shoulder quit trying to hide it."

Cid just closed his eyes.

The Highwind was back and Tifa was relieved to see no black creatures roaming around.

"Cid, we're here," Tifa said.

Cid stood up and looked at his shoulder, Tifa had put together a makeshift bandage for him and Cid couldn't remember her putting it on, must have passed out.

"Any of those things?" asked Cid.

"Not that I can see," Tifa replied.

"Means they left," Cid said, "or decided to go inside."

Tifa hadn't thought of that, "Oh no."

"Let's get a move on, if anyone can handle those things, though, it's Cloud," Cid reassured.

"You're right," Tifa said, not quite as certain as she sounded.

They landed the ship and hurried inside; ready to help fend off more of the creatures should they be inside. Instead they found everyone standing around waiting for them.

"The hell took you so long?" asked Barret.

"They didn't come inside," Tifa said in relief.

"Who didn't?" asked Cloud.

"What did you see?" asked Vincent urgently.

"Well, these black things, they wouldn't die. Not sure what they were exactly," Tifa replied.

Vincent shook his head, "Must be because of the paradox, we're running out of time. Do you have the Materia?"

"Fire and lightning," Cid said handing Vincent the Materia.

Vincent took them and paused, "You're injured."

"That the only thing people notice?" asked Cid, annoyed.

Cloud gave Cid a potion and the bandage was discarded.

Vincent turned and moved to a square contraption set on a wall. The thing had two holes and a big black button. Vincent put the Materia in the two holes and his finger hovered over the button.

"When I hit this, in theory, the machine should bring her back," Vincent said, drawing his gun. Everyone took this cue to draw their own weapons. "Other than Aeris and her guardian I'm not sure what will come through. Maybe more of these black things, I'm positive we'll have to fight the guardian. I will attempt to talk to him, but if we have to kill him then we will."

Everyone nodded.

Vincent hit the button.


	5. Wymond

**Chapter 4**

**Wymond**

It was as if whatever the machine required as energy wasn't enough, it sputtered and as the lights in the building flickered on and off continuously Vincent wondered if he'd missed something. Some component he'd missed, he thought the machine wasn't going to work. His thoughts were proven wrong as the building finally seemed to get its lighting back.

Everyone looked around; Vincent made eye contact with Cloud once before turning a full three-sixty to check his surroundings. Everything looked to be intact he still wondered if something might have gone wrong. Tifa broke the deafening silence.

"Vincent, here!" she yelled so loudly everyone jumped.

Vincent walked over beside Tifa and looked where she was looking. Inside one of the tubes that surrounded the room stood a face Vincent had seen recently but certainly shouldn't exist.

Her eyes were closed and she didn't appear to be aware of anything.

"It's her," Tifa said now in a whisper.

She looked different from when they last saw her however.

"People in the Lifestream sure do get their choice of clothing, I will say that," Reno said staring at Aeris.

Instead of the clothing they remembered she wore she had on a very simple black shirt that buttoned up at the front and black pants.

"Weird seein' her without that dress," Barret commented.

They all stared transfixed, except for Cloud who was looking at something else.

"Hey, uh, guys," Cloud said.

Vincent turned to Cloud, "What is it?"

"There's two of her," Cloud said cryptically but Vincent saw what he meant.

Vincent stood and stared in confusion, the second Aeris wore different clothing as well. She had on similar attire as what they remembered except it was a blue colour. Her clothing seemed to shine as if it had diamonds running through the fabric which looked to be like denim.

Completely different from the other Aeris across the room, Vincent looked back at the Aeris in black and then returned to the one in blue.

"Why are there two?" asked Vincent rhetorically.

"Wait a second, the guardians wear black right?" asked Reno.

Vincent nodded.

"So that means that the one wearing black could very well be…" Reno looked back at the black-clad Aeris…her eyes were open. Reno's words caught in his throat. As he looked into Aeris' strangely frightening black eyes he tried many times to use his voice but all his words got stuck. The black eyes were looking at him…through him.

"Spit it out, Turk," Barret growled turning to look at Reno. He also saw black Aeris' open eyes. "Man, this can't be good."

Vincent's red-tinged eyes suddenly met the pair of unsettling black eyes that now looked at him.

"Everybody get the hell away from that tube!" Vincent yelled just as the said tube exploded outward with a shockwave that knocked everyone but Vincent off their feet. The waterfall of glass shot outward and came at Vincent as if it were aimed. Vincent grabbed his crimson cloak and pulled it up over his face. The glass hit his cloak and then fell harmlessly to the ground. Vincent let his protective piece of clothing fall back down and was left standing face to face with someone he assumed was a guardian.

"Shape shifter, too, I see," Vincent commented, "I have a similar talent. Not quite as controlled as yours though."

In front of him was no longer an Aeris look-alike, in fact it wasn't even a woman anymore. In front of him stood a man with the same black shirt and pants as before. Vincent noticed that the articles of clothing seemed to fit this man better than it had their friend. This was the guardian's original form, Vincent guessed. The man's black eyes locked with Vincent's, whose red eyes were unnerving in their own right.

"I don't suppose you would allow me a moment to explain why we've brought back the Cetra," Vincent said.

The guardian drew out its large and familiar sword, the Masamune blade. The weapon had appeared out of nowhere, but such a thing was not unexpected considering what this man was.

"I didn't think so," Vincent muttered.

The guardian jabbed forward and Vincent managed to somehow step out of reach of the long sword. The dark silent man then began to into what seemed like a very routine series of attacks that Vincent really had to move fast to avoid. The guardian swiped at Vincent's feet and Vincent jumped just in time to let the sword pass under him. Then in an effortless movement the guardian spun and brought his sword in for a slash to Vincent's left side.

The guardian looked a bit shocked as a golden clawed hand suddenly brought his sword to a halt. Vincent gave the guardian a rare grin, "There are no helpless scientists here, my friend."

Vincent brought his revolver up and smashed the guardian under the chin with it sending him flying up head over heels and landing against another of the tubes which shattered under his weight.

§

Across the room Cloud had gotten back to his feet and was ignoring Vincent's battle as he attempted to open the tube with who he assumed was the real Aeris inside.

"How do you open these things," Cloud muttered.

"Cloud stand back," Yuffie ordered he turned to see her throw her boomerang. The weapon spun end over end and hit the tube shattering the glass downward so none of it was near Aeris or Cloud. The boomerang then shot past Cloud and landed back in Yuffie's hands.

Aeris, who was not conscious it seemed, began to fall forward but Cloud was there quickly to catch her. He turned her around so he could look at her face.

"She's breathing," Cloud muttered. Though it may have been a statement of the obvious to him it was nothing short of a miracle.

§

Vincent walked over to the guardian that lay in a pile of glass; the dark-clad man looked defeated. Vincent knew better. This was a man that was created with only one purpose: to protect his charge, a Cetra, in this case their Aeris. Vincent knew well enough that he was no match for such a being, something else was going on.

The guardian sat up and looked at him.

"Your eyes," the guardian said Vincent was a bit surprised the man talked.

"Yes?" Vincent asked pointing his gun at the guardian.

"They are like mine…not human," the guardian replied.

"I may not be considered very normal, but I am human," Vincent said, "just a complicated one."

"I can see things in those eyes," the guardian continued. "I see a monster lurking behind the façade of a man."

"There, I suppose, you do have a point," Vincent said.

"Any other man I could have killed, but not you," the guardian said. "I think if I tried I would unleash something even I could not protect the Cetra from."

"You don't know exactly who I am," Vincent said holstering his gun, "Vincent Valentine, a man who would kill himself before he killed your charge, I guarantee you that."

"Someone who values an Ancient more than her guardian?" asked the guardian.

"Hey, you think maybe we could get back to saving the world here?" asked Reno.

Vincent stuck out his hand to the guardian, "If you don't allow your charge to co-operate then this entire planet will die."

The guardian grabbed Vincent's hand and allowed him to help him to his feet.

"Very well, explain yourselves," the guardian said.

Vincent explained their situation as quickly as possible including the appearance of the black creatures and the odd foot steps.

"A time paradox is a serious matter as I'm sure you're aware," Vincent said.

"And you are aware it is against every law set by the Cetra for me to allow her to help you," the guardian replied.

"Then we just gotta blow your head off and it's all good," Barret growled walking up to Vincent and the guardian, "look, I understand all your laws, but if you ain't gonna help us, then we'll get you the hell outta our way."

"True as that is we would much rather have your help," Vincent added.

The guardian had the look of a man who was trying to justify breaking a very strict set of rules. "Very well, but if she is to die the punishment to me is unimaginable."

Barret smiled, "You don't know a whole lot about us I guess."

The guardian looked at him curiously.

"'Cause if you had you'd know damn well we don't make the same mistakes twice," Barret said ominously.

"What's your name guardian?" asked Vincent seeing the guardian understood what Barret said.

"I go by the name Wymond, but guardians like me rarely have use for a name," he replied.

Vincent nodded and turned to check on the situation with Aeris.

"How is she?" Vincent asked walking over and kneeling beside Cloud who still held Aeris.

"Unconscious," Cloud said not looking away from her, "alive."

"The energy that is taken during a trip such as one to come back from the dead is quite taxing," the guardian said walking toward them sheathing his sword. "That is why they are sent with guardians, because they cannot defend themselves when they first arrive."

"How did…" Cloud paused when he looked up at Wymond and stared at him curiously.

"I know you," the guardian said suddenly.

"Yeah," Cloud replied, his dream flashed back into his head. "In a dream, you were in my dream."

Vincent looked between the two of them, "Wymond was the unknown man in your dream?"

"Yeah," Cloud said, "I guess you wouldn't know why you'd be appearing in a dream would you?"

"I have no idea," Wymond replied.

"Didn't think it was gonna be that easy to figure out," Cloud said shaking his head.

"Cloud and I had similar dreams," Vincent explained to the guardian, "except where I saw Aeris, he saw you."

"That doesn't make any sense," Wymond said, "something like that only happens when…"

Everyone had eyes on the guardian.

"When what?" asked Cloud.

"The Ancient Black," Wymond said.

"The who?" asked Reno.

"She chose you two, she must have," Wymond said.

Reno shook his head, "Tell me I'm not the only one here who's got no idea what he's talking about."

"I believe this would be an excellent time to be quiet and listen," Red XIII said.

"The Cetra and I are linked," the guardian explained, "which is a condition of her having a guardian. As you know, when the Cetra die they return to the Lifestream."

"This is starting to sound more like Tseng's kind of thing, he knew more about the whole Ancients and the Lifestream stuff," Reno muttered.

"Before, you remember, when I suggested you be quiet," Red XIII said, "the suggestion stands."

Reno stared at him indignantly.

"Unlike others, when a Cetra returns to the Lifestream they continue to take part in the living world. They can appear in dreams and visions, affect certain people and things," Wymond explained.

Cloud nodded, he remembered the field of flowers he'd stood in back to back with her. Talking like she wasn't dead and he wasn't torn apart by the fact.

"To appear in a dream like yours, to show you a place like this, it is a warning," Wymond said.

"Warning of what?" asked Vincent.

"As I said, we are connected, that would explain why you both got the same dream, but saw both myself and her. She chose you two, she thought for some reason you two would be the best choices to combat the Cetra's greatest enemy," Wymond said. "The Ancient Black, a creature spawned of evil itself."

Everyone went silent, it was impossible to think of something to say after the guardian had said something like that: "a creature spawned of evil itself."

"Well," Reno said, "that's not good for us, is it?"

"What exactly is the Ancient Black?" asked Red XIII.

"It is the Planet's double-edged sword," Wymond said, "it is both the blessing that allows the Lifestream to remain free of darkness and the force that wishes to destroy everything the Lifestream creates."

"The only thing we had going for us is that this thing couldn't find a way to get to our plane of existence, right?" asked Cloud.

"Exactly," Wymond said.

"Now it found a way," Vincent said, "and Aeris knew it was on its way here."

"She must have had much respect for all of you to assume you would be able to discover all of this so quickly," Wymond commented.

"There are none more trustworthy," said the weak reply somewhere out of Cloud's line of sight, but he knew well enough who it was. Wymond immediately dropped to a knee and bowed his head. Vincent looked at Aeris.

"Welcome back," Vincent said looking at her.

Aeris looked like she was going to try and say something but coughed instead.

"Don't speak yet, I believe we are doing quite a good job of figuring it all out on our own at this point," Red XIII said walking up to her.

"Must say it's nice to see you again," Cait Sith said to her.

"Wymond, stand up, you look like…" Aeris coughed but regained her voice, "…a fool…kneeling like that."

Wymond immediately jumped to his feet, "Are you alright?"

"Tired," she replied.

"So this Ancient Black thing, how strong is it?" asked Cid.

"Stronger than Sephiroth," Aeris said, her voice showing more strength.

"Emerald Weapon was stronger than Sephiroth," Cid said dismissively.

Aeris smiled at Cid, "Well, I wasn't really around for that, but I'm sure it's stronger than Emerald Weapon."

"You see, it is literally created by pure evil," Wymond explained, "you are used to explaining your enemies in terms of them all being created by solid explainable things. Constructed of skin tissue, rock, metal, scales…the Ancient Black wasn't created in the sense of being born. Sephiroth and this Emerald Weapon were both created, Sephiroth born, Emerald Weapon built, but the Ancient Black simply came into existence."

"It is the product of all things considered evil after they left the Lifestream," Aeris continued, "every sin, every thing they'd done wrong. Everything a person carried with them after they died that could be considered evil separated from the Lifestream and slowly merged and over time became the Ancient Black."

"The double-edged sword," Vincent said, "it removed evil from the Lifestream to keep it pure, but in turn created a monster."

"This thing makes Sephiroth and Jenova seem pretty small-time," Reno muttered.

"It may well be considered the greatest enemy any living creature would have to face," Wymond said, "and she chose you two."

Vincent looked at Cloud and then to Aeris, "What does he mean?"

"I knew to warn you I'd have to send you a message through a dream, sending a warning to all of you at once isn't a possibility. I could only use myself and Wymond to project my warning. So I knew I had to send it to the two people I thought most capable of destroying the Ancient Black," Aeris explained.

"Well, there's one hell of an ego boost," Cid muttered.

Aeris smiled, "Though I'm not suggesting that they are the only two, it will take all of us to defeat it."

"Do we really have to fight this thing?" asked Yuffie.

"Yeah, right, can't we just like, block it…or something?" asked Reno.

"This construct is the connection between this plane and the one the Ancient Black resides in," Aeris explained, "if we send this building away the Ancient Black goes with it, even if it does succeed in coming through it only exists as long as this building does. That's why I specifically chose you two; we have two fronts to fight. One is to hold off the Ancient Black and the second is to use this place's time travel abilities to return it to the place it originally existed in."

"Aeris exists in all planes of existence so she can travel there to discover a way to return it without causing a paradox," Wymond said. "I will of course accompany her and…"

Aeris waved a hand at him and he stopped talking, "That's not quite the plan, Wymond."

"You're not traveling to this place's original plane of existence?" asked Wymond.

"Oh, yes, of course," Aeris replied, "it's just you're not coming with me."

Everyone including Wymond looked a bit shocked.

"That's not possible," Wymond said, "it is my…"

"I know what your duty is, I don't plan on going alone still, I'll have my bodyguard," Aeris said looking at Cloud.

"Him?" asked Wymond.

"Me," Cloud muttered.

"Yeah, him," Aeris said, "I need you to stay here with the rest and help them hold off the Ancient Black. Cloud's coming with me."

"Wait, won't that cause one of those…time paradox…things?" asked Cloud.

"What," Aeris said smiling, "trying to get rid of me already? I just got resurrected and already you wanna send me away with the guardian?"

Cloud looked a bit surprised, "Well…no, I mean…"

Aeris laughed, "You haven't changed much."

Cloud sat in silence trying to figure out if that was a bad thing.

"Anyways on to why I picked Vincent now," Aeris said.

"Uh, if I may, I must again express…" Wymond began.

Aeris cut him off again, "Hey, we're done with Cloud; he's coming with me you're staying here. He'll protect me fine, they need you here."

Cloud felt a bit like he had a rock in his throat when he heard how much it sounded like she trusted him to protect her even after what had happened.

"With all respect if the last demonstration of his ability to protect you is what you're using as reference then I must disagree," Wymond said.

Just about everyone's eyes widened at the blatant remark to the incident they all knew he was talking about. Cloud stood up.

"Wymond, that was uncalled for," Aeris said angrily.

Even Vincent registered a bit of shock at how the guardian so heartlessly played on something that he knew must hurt Cloud greatly.

"I believe it must be said that past experience hasn't shown for his ability to protect you very well," Wymond continued.

Cid shook his head, "Man, you are askin' for it."

Cid was right, faster than anyone could register Cloud landed a punch square on the guardian's nose. The impact both sent the guardian flying off his feet along with the audible sickening crack of his nose breaking. Cloud followed up by moving over to the fallen guardian and grabbing him by the collar of his black shirt and giving him a final head butt that sent all of the guardian's senses into cartwheels.

"Say something like that again and I don't care what kind of Cetra guardian you are, I'll kill you," Cloud growled and walked away from the guardian, his Mako infused eyes seemed to glow in an unsettling manner.

"Well, one big happy family, eh?" said Reno.

As usual, everyone ignored him.


	6. Why She Picked Vincent

--I'm not a needy guy or anything but I notice I've gotten very few reviews. This either means you don't like it and you're too nice to tell me or you like it and don't want to feed my ego. As I doubt it's the second one I will say in any case that a short review or two to let me know if I'm going in the right direction would be appreciated, but if not, you know, if you don't like it keep disliking it and if you do like it keep liking it.

**Chapter 5**

**Why She Picked Vincent**

After Wymond had finished healing his broken nose everyone had worked to calm the situation before the guardian had a chance to strike back against Cloud. They all found a place to gather and they finally got back to the subject at hand, Wymond and Cloud still glaring back and forth at each other.

Red XIII sat comfortably with Cait Sith on his back as usual, Cid stood leaning against a wall lighting up another of his many cigarettes, Barret and Tifa sat beside one another, Yuffie sat cross-legged with her back against the wall beside Reno who sat similarly against the wall, but not cross-legged, that wasn't his style. Wymond was standing still straight across from where Cloud and Aeris sat beside one another, also against the wall. Vincent, as per his usual disposition, was quite distanced from the rest of them and slowly walked back and forth on the verge of a quick pace.

Vincent was trying to put a year's worth of information together in a few minutes, his arms were crossed and he occasionally nodded slightly in understanding as Aeris talked, but overall looked as if he wasn't listening.

As she explained everything they needed to know Vincent noted a few things, one most prominent was the fact the guardian still seemed quite bothered by the fact Aeris seemed to trust Cloud more than him. Though Vincent wondered if maybe it was how close the two of them sat side by side. No one really paid attention to it as they were listening intently to Aeris, but they were actually sitting quite close to one another.

Whether this implied a love connection or the fact Cloud was a little deaf in his right ear, Vincent wasn't sure. Though as far as he knew both of Cloud's ears worked fine, it also brought up the point maybe Wymond wasn't so perturbed about Aeris trusting Cloud more than him, but by the fact they seemed to have such a close relationship. Of course assuming one could define a relationship by how close one person sat to another.

The question of whether Cloud and Aeris would have remained simply friends had she not been killed at the Forgotten City was one that Vincent had played with many times in his mind.

"Seeing as Vincent seems to be ignoring me I'll ask him to repeat everything I just said," Aeris said smiling.

Vincent stopped pacing but stared off in a different direction from the group, "You said the Ancient Black is created of an element that does not necessarily exist in the literal sense on this planet so logically weapons created here will do very little damage but will damage it nonetheless."

Vincent had quoted her word for word.

Cid chuckled and shifted from leaning on his side to leaning his back against the wall, "So in theory we could kill the bastard."

Aeris gave a last grin to Vincent as he started pacing again, she looked to Cid, "Oh, it's possible, especially now that you'll have Wymond. His sword is the only one other than my staff that is capable of doing heavy damage to the Ancient Black. Though there is one other here that is quite capable of damaging the monster, maybe even capable of killing it himself."

Wymond looked over at Vincent and everyone else followed the guardian's gaze, Vincent sensed more than saw their eyes on him, he stopped pacing and turned.

"That's why you chose him?" asked Wymond. "He can hurt the creature?"

"Wait, that would make sense," Reno said nodding, "I'm not up on all the stuff Hojo did to you, man, but you got something inside you that ain't normal."

Aeris nodded, "Chaos."

Vincent was quiet but made a gesture with his golden-clawed hand that urged Aeris to continue.

"Whatever exactly this _Chaos_ is, however Hojo implemented him in you, he accidentally created a being that could potentially destroy anything," Wymond said.

"Wymond stop reading my mind," Aeris said but didn't look at him.

"Sorry," the guardian replied.

Reno looked between Aeris and her guardian, "Now back to being the guy that has no idea what's going on."

"Telepathic connection between the guardian and the charge," Vincent said, "that makes sense. He knows where she is, where she's thinking of going, and they can communicate anywhere."

"It gets annoying when he starts saying stuff I'm gonna say," Aeris added.

"You're saying Vince's," Cid paused for a moment, "less-than-friendly…alter ego…thing…could kill this Ancient Black thing?"

"That's exactly what she's saying," Vincent replied, "and don't call me Vince."

"Oh, right, sorry," Cid said, "it's just so much easier to say. Y'know it rolls off the tongue."

"I would ask how you came to this conclusion, but I suppose one shouldn't ask about things beyond comprehension, yes?" asked Vincent to Aeris, ignoring Cid's comment.

"That's probably the easiest and fastest way to think of it," Aeris replied laughing a little.

"I'm still stuck back at the part where there's a monster made out of evil," Reno said shaking his head.

Red XIII turned to look at Reno, "As much as I enjoy saying it three times it should go without saying really how I respond to you."

"Right, shut up, I know," Reno replied.

"You guys are going to need all the help you can get," Aeris said looking to Reno, "gather as many allies as you can…Turks, any mercenaries, anybody."

"Well, Shinra's a bit short on recruits lately, but I can guarantee you Rude, Elena and Rufus will show up," Reno replied.

"Bastards are all sympathetic now that they feelin' all guilty about destroying the planet, eh?" asked Barret.

Reno said nothing.

"If there was ever a time to put differences aside, now is the most important I'm sure," Red XIII said wisely.

"He's right, to fight this thing the only chance you have is in numbers," Aeris said.

"Though I think we're forgetting that we don't necessarily have to kill it right?" asked Tifa.

Aeris nodded, "Hopefully you'll only have to hold it off for a while until Cloud and I find a way to fix our time paradox situation."

"So, question is," Cid said, "when do you leave and when does Blackie show up?"

"You mentioned the black creatures," Aeris said, "they are a sign; it means the creature is about two days off."

"That is of course an estimate," Wymond added, "you obviously can't accurately time the Ancient Black's movements, but from previous experience and Cetra knowledge two days is a safe estimate."

"Could be sooner, could be later," Cid said, "but sooner or later this damn thing's coming and we gotta be ready to kill the bastard if it comes to that."

Aeris nodded, "And Cloud and I need to be going."

Cloud nodded, "Ready when you are."

Aeris stood up, "I know you're not happy about this and I know you aren't really allowed to do this, but Wymond, I really need my staff."

Wymond stood silent for a moment and after an awkward session of staring, reached behind him and produced a sparkling light green staff that had, like his own sword, appeared out of nowhere.

"I hope you can protect her as well as she believes," Wymond said and tossed the staff to Aeris who caught it gracefully and spun it around a few times.

Cloud was about to respond when Aeris spoke first, "He beat you up pretty good, guardian-man, I'd say it's a start."

Wymond looked a bit shocked and even Vincent gave a bit of a grin at her words.

"Watch out," Cid said standing away from the wall now, "girl's got her fire back."

"We have this side covered," Vincent assured, "and make sure you protect Cloud, unlike you he can't come back from the dead every time we need him."

Aeris smiled, "Vincent, that was a joke, Tifa's teaching you well."

Vincent just shrugged, "Still haven't thought of one that actually made anyone laugh."

"Most jokes really aren't that funny, Vincent," Aeris said. "It's just about finding the right moment to say one. The right situation, right time, place, you'll get it."

Vincent nodded, Cloud followed Aeris over to one of the tubes on the wall.

"Wymond, use some of your fantastic skills and make sure Cloud appearing on the other side doesn't go and destroy the world," Aeris said.

"I have the ability to allow someone to go in my place, whether they exist in the other plane of existence or not," the guardian explained.

Aeris studied the tube and found a keypad on the right side, she waved her green staff over it and it suddenly beeped and the tube slid open.

"When did you learn that?" asked Cloud.

Aeris laughed, "Being dead for a while has its benefits."

She stepped inside the tube, "We'll use the same one, save power."

"Uh, I don't think the fact we use one tube really affects how much power we…" Cloud began.

"Oh, shut up and get in," Aeris grabbed him and pulled him inside, "you really haven't changed at all."

Vincent walked over to the black button that activated the machine.

"As soon as you hit the button I will have Cloud in an invisible bubble of sorts that will in a sense trick time itself into thinking he is me," Wymond explained to Vincent. "For this to work we must do both things at the same time, however."

"On three," Vincent said.

"Very well," Wymond agreed.

"One," Vincent said.

Aeris wrapped her arms around Cloud and put her head against his chest.

"Two," Vincent said.

Cloud hesitated for a moment but then put his arms around her and put his chin on her head.

"_Three!_" Vincent said loudly and hit the button just as Wymond cast the necessary magic to serve his purpose.

After the flickering of lights they had experienced when they brought Aeris back stopped they all looked to the tube and found it empty, Cloud and Aeris were indeed gone.

"I suppose if we'd been unsynchronized we'd know it, yes?" asked Vincent.

"None of us would likely still be alive if we'd been unsynchronized," Wymond replied.

"Great, well, they're off, now what do we do?" asked Reno.

"Cid, can you give Reno a ride to wherever he needs to go?" asked Vincent.

Cid nodded.

"Reno," Vincent said, "grab any allies you can find and bring them here."

Reno nodded.

"The rest of us should get out of this building and start making a plan, right?" asked Barret.

"We should also set up a vigilant watch on this place," Vincent said, "in case our enemy decides to show up early."

"First thing's first, let's get the hell outta here," Cid said gesturing for Reno to follow him. "Oh, yeah, don't forget about those damned black things out there. You can't kill 'em so don't try."

"We should be able to avoid them, one problem at a time," Tifa said.

Everyone appeared to be at an agreement and began to make their way outside.

"Hey, guys, you know that joke Vincent made about Cloud not being able to come back to life when we need him?" asked Reno.

"Reno, does it really matter right now?" asked Yuffie.

"No, seriously, guys, I have a legitimate point here," Reno said, everyone ignored him. "No, really, just hear me out: why didn't you guys just use a Phoenix Down on Aeris back in the Forgotten City, why didn't you just throw on a Phoenix Down and that's that?"

Nobody heard him nor responded.

"Fine, but you know I've got a point!" Reno yelled indignantly.


	7. Unstable Past

**Chapter 6**

**Unstable Past**

Cloud opened his eyes and everything flooded back at once, disappearing in the tube with Aeris, the Ancient Black, what they had to do…everything. Though the thought process was suddenly forgotten as Cloud realized he was in fact falling through the air.

"What the…" he managed to say when he saw the ground rushing toward him.

Then it was as if someone had simply grabbed him and he was frozen in mid air.

"It's safe to say something went wrong," Aeris said and Cloud somehow managed to turn in mid-air to look at her. She too was floating in the air except she seemed to be in a comfortable sitting position whereas Cloud was frozen in a less rehearsed position.

"Are you doing this?" Cloud asked.

"I thought it would be better than hitting the ground, though I'm sure you would have survived," Aeris replied.

Cloud looked down incredulously and then back to her, "What gives you that idea?"

"Take a closer look at where we are," Aeris said, "you might not recognize it so much as the last time you were here it was all going by a bit faster."

Cloud looked down again and then to his left and right, his suspended position gave him an excellent view of his surroundings.

"Midgar," Cloud muttered, "this is Midgar."

"We've gone back in time it appears," Aeris said, "if I had let you fall there would be two Clouds in my church right now…and that would make things very complicated."

Cloud shook his head, "This is way back, and we're supposed to be going to the future!"

"In my experience such things don't happen unless someone caused it," Aeris said.

"Who would want to send us into the past?" asked Cloud.

"Good question, but to get to where we want to go we need to find out," Aeris replied.

"Damn," Cloud growled, "this is one serious set back."

"It looks like it may be up to the others to kill the Ancient Black," Aeris said, "but we can't give up yet. We've got an advantage this time."

Cloud looked at her curiously.

"Me," she clarified.

"I don't suppose you have a magic spell that would point us to the person who messed up our travel arrangements?" asked Cloud.

"When has anything ever been that easy?" asked Aeris.

"Alright, so what now?" asked Cloud.

"I'll send a message to Wymond, due to the differences in time it may take a while for my thoughts to reach him," Aeris said, "hopefully he'll be able to come up with a way to help us. Until then we have to help ourselves."

"Starting with getting me back on the ground," Cloud said.

"I was getting to that," Aeris said and the two of them floated down and landed atop a building a few meters away from the church.

Cloud caught sight of himself and Aeris coming out on the roof and talking for a while, then jumping from roof to roof away from the church.

"I'm guessing if we run into ourselves it'll mess things up," Cloud said.

"You have no idea," Aeris replied ominously. "This is not what I had planned at all."

"We need a direction," Cloud said looking around. "Do we know anything?"

Aeris stood silently.

"So what the hell do we do?" asked Cloud.

"I guess we wait for Wymond," Aeris said.

Cloud shook his head, "Damn."

"This isn't such a good start," Aeris commented.

"Isn't our presence here alone changing things?" asked Cloud.

Aeris looked around, "We're in an unstable past, who knows what our appearance here has already changed. Good thing is as long as our presence is minor it won't affect our future selves."

"What if something happens to us in this time?" asked Cloud.

"Which us?" asked Aeris, "like _us_, or the other us."

Cloud stared at her for a moment and she smiled.

"Look, I'm not gonna be able to keep up with all this time travel stuff," Cloud said, "so as simply as possible explain what happens if the _other_ us dies."

"If the other you in this time was to die or the other me was to die earlier than planned then it would ultimately kill every other us that exists in any other timeline," Aeris replied.

Cloud closed his eyes, "So we're standing here with the potential to completely destroy both ourselves and every other self in existence."

"Not to mention the problems our suddenly not existing would cause," Aeris said.

Cloud's eyes remained closed, "So we're standing here with the potential to completely fuck up the balance of time itself."

Aeris just nodded knowing well enough Cloud couldn't see the movement she made, as his eyes were still closed.

"We should follow them," Aeris suggested.

Cloud opened his eyes.

"We already know what's going to happen, there might be a few subtle differences, but we're already ahead of the game," Aeris said.

"I see what you're saying, we should protect them…us…but shouldn't we also be staying as far away from…us…as possible?" asked Cloud.

"As long as we don't see us, or at least as long as the other us doesn't recognize us," Aeris said.

"Disguises," Cloud said.

"The Wall Market," Aeris suggested, "should be able to find some disguises there."

Cloud nodded and turned ready to start moving, he remembered something and quickly turned back to Aeris, "I'm not dressing up like a girl, I want a male disguise."

Aeris laughed, "It hadn't even occurred to me."

"Yeah, right," Cloud muttered.

The two made their way off the roof and on to the ground; Cloud recognized the place as if it hadn't been a very long time since he'd seen Midgar intact. The place everyone remembered as where it all began and, in a sense, where it all would end. Holy and the Lifestream would battle the final enemy here, not Sephiroth, but his Meteor.

Though their past selves knew nothing about that, and how much simpler life was then for them.

"There they are, looks like they didn't get very far," growled a voice from behind Cloud he turned to see a younger, but no different looking Reno and a single Shinra soldier in blue.

"They think we're…" Cloud paused, "the other us."

"We can't fight them," Aeris said.

"Right, Reno doesn't die, we'd mess everything up," Cloud said, "this time travel thing is getting really inconvenient."

"Come on, we can lose them," Aeris said turning to run with Cloud in tow.

"That soldier with Reno," Cloud said in mid-run, "I got all of them with the barrels, there shouldn't be one left."

"Guess this time's Cloud isn't so amazing," Aeris said laughing.

"What I'm saying is…" Cloud looked at Aeris, "thank you, and that we can fight the soldier because that really wouldn't change anything."

"I guess so," Aeris said, "if it comes to it."

"Go left," Cloud said pointing and the two of them veered off.

"The other us should be on the way to my house by now, we've got time to lose these guys and get to the Wall Market," Aeris said.

"I think I've got my disguise planned out," Cloud said, "split up."

"Why?" asked Aeris.

"Trust me," he replied, "Reno will go after you so you run and I'll do the rest."

"Remember you can't actually hit Reno, if he so much has a bruise that he's not supposed to have it'll change things," Aeris warned.

"I'm not going for Reno," Cloud said and suddenly moved right and disappeared, leaving Aeris alone for Reno and the soldier to chase.

As Cloud had said the two ignored Cloud's absence and went for Aeris. They were, after all, here for the Ancient, not for him. Aeris knew she wasn't so much trying to escape now as much as she was just playing a decoy waiting for Cloud to make a move.

It didn't take him long.

Aeris looked over her shoulder in time to see the soldier running a little behind Reno just disappear. She wasn't sure exactly where Cloud came from; in fact she didn't even see Cloud so she had to assume Cloud was even involved in the soldier disappearing. She quickly turned her attention back to Reno she turned left to try and lose him. Reno was around the corner and still had her in sight. Aeris was about to try another trick she had up her sleeve when she, like the soldier, disappeared.

Reno stood in confusion looking around. He moved to stand in the exact spot where she had last been and looked around.

"Hey, did you see," Reno turned to ask the soldier but he too was gone. "Where's everybody disappearing to?"

After standing there for a few more seconds Reno just shrugged helplessly and wandered off hoping to find her somewhere else.

Directly above where Reno stood confused was Aeris looking down, Cloud had somehow managed to get on top of a large pile of some metal junk and there were enough footholds for him to get low enough to grab people and pull them up.

Behind Aeris lay the soldier that was following Reno, minus his blue uniform.

"He's alive," Cloud told her as he finished putting on the said removed uniform, "if I killed him it'd ruin my disguise."

"Shinra soldier, I guess that's a good disguise for you," Aeris said.

"Right, because I was…" Cloud looked at Aeris picking up the helmet, "you weren't around for the real story but I guess you know?"

"That you're not Zack?" asked Aeris.

"Well, guess I don't have to tell it again," Cloud said putting on the helmet.

"You two are so similar I can almost see why, for whatever reason, you thought you were him," Aeris said smiling, "just you're alive and he's not."

Cloud was a bit glad he had the helmet covering his face so he didn't have to worry about any facial expressions; it was always easier to hide things like that.

"Come on, if we're gonna get you a disguise we should start moving," Cloud said.

Aeris nodded, "We've only got a while until you try and sneak away."

Cloud grabbed the soldier's last item, the rifle, and used some jutting pieces of metal to hop back down to the ground. He turned to help Aeris to the ground and the two headed off in the direction of the Wall Market.

"Walk in front, you'll look more like a prisoner," Cloud said.

"Should I have my hands behind my back and have my head down too?" asked Aeris smiling.

"If you think it would add to the overall effect, sure," Cloud replied.

Cloud walked behind Aeris, who decided not to do the hands behind the back and head down thing, with his rifle held casually in one hand. From his experience as a soldier he knew that very few men walked and acted as they were trained when no one was looking.

As they passed through Sector 6 Cloud found as soon as the monsters saw Cloud's gun they backed off. This surprised him a little but also made him wish he'd picked up a Shinra rifle the first time he'd come through here with Aeris. Of course if he told the other them about it time would get messed up…like most of the things they could possibly do.

"If we step on a rock or something here that wasn't meant to be stepped on will that change things?" asked Cloud.

"Probably, but not in a big way," Aeris replied.

"The longer we stay here the more dangerous this gets," Cloud said shaking his head.

"As long as we're careful it'll be alright," Aeris said, "in any case we do need to figure out how to get to the future. I'd hoped Wymond would get my message by now."

"Assuming he'll know what to do," Cloud said.

"Yes," Aeris said.

The two entered Wall Market and again Cloud recognized it well. He remembered exactly where he'd gone the first time he'd come here, why he'd come this way, everything.

"Kind of nostalgic, eh?" asked Aeris.

"Yeah, the good old days I guess," Cloud muttered, "guess we should go to that clothing place we went to."

"Yeah, don't get me a dress though, add to the disguise," Aeris said.

Cloud realized he'd never really seen Aeris in anything other than a dress. Her current clothing was the same as what she usually wore but in a different colour, and even that was a bit of a switch.

"You know, something that makes me look cool," Aeris said, "but blends in with the crowd."

"So you wanna stand out but fit in?" asked Cloud.

"Yeah," Aeris said.

Cloud shook his head, "You realize I'm not exactly a clothing expert right?"

"Well, I can't go in there because the person at the desk can't see me now, and then see someone who looks exactly like me in a little while inquiring about getting a dress for a man."

Cloud sighed, "They can't see me either, but I'm the only one with a current disguise that does cover my face."

"Victim of circumstance, so to speak," Aeris said chuckling.

"Try and stay out of sight, we don't want anybody recognizing you twice," Cloud said.

As Aeris went to try and be inconspicuous, Cloud entered the clothing shop where he remembered trying on a dress.

"Can I help you?" asked the daughter of the man who would design the said dress.

"I need some clothing, casual stuff, it's for a partner of mine," Cloud said making stuff up quickly, "we were outside of Midgar and his clothes took a beating."

"No problem," the woman said and showed him to where they kept the casual clothing. "We specialize in dresses mostly, but since my father hasn't been around we've started to focus a little more on other types of clothing too."

Cloud was almost tempted to say something like "go check at the bar" or "don't worry, that's about to change."

"Thanks, this'll do, he's not fussy," Cloud said quickly grabbing a white shirt and black pants. He realized Aeris would probably look like Reno without his blazer so he also grabbed a black leather jacket. On his way to pay for the clothing he noticed a rack of sunglasses and picked out a pair that would sufficiently cover her eyes as a disguise, but would add to the "cool" look she wanted. At least as far as Cloud knew, anyways.

He started to move toward the counter when he realized he had no money.

"Oh, great," Cloud muttered, he knew Aeris wouldn't have any either. They had planned on a trip to the future to save the world, if he had known he was going to need to buy some clothing he would have brought some Gil with him.

"Short on currency, my friend?" asked a man standing in the doorway.

Cloud looked at him suspiciously through the helmet, "A little."

"That's alright, I'll get this one," the man said smiling and paid for Cloud's clothing. He gave the owner a wave and stepped outside with Cloud.

"I'd ask if it showed on my face, but you know," Cloud said, not sure what to make of the man.

He had sandy hair that fell to around the top of his shoulders and brown eyes that looked almost dark enough to be black. He wore normal clothing, a red shirt and blue pants. Overall the guy looked pretty common.

"Well, we both know I'm about as common as you are a Shinra soldier, right?" asked the man smiling.

"You're reading my mind," Cloud said.

"Sorry, I try not to do it. I have to say you take the fun out of it though. Most people at least have a look of confusion or start getting nervous," the man said, "the name's…"

"Get away from him!" Aeris said suddenly coming out from behind a building with her staff out.

Cloud, not in a position to question Aeris, jumped back and aimed his rifle at the man.

"Really, Aeris, dear, must you always overreact like this every time we meet?" asked the man.

"Get back," Aeris growled and the man took a step back.

"As you wish, oh great powerful Cetra…" the man paused, "…dead chick…I guess would finish the title."

"You brought us here," Aeris accused.

"Me," the man said, "why would I do that?"

"You're an idiot, why else?" Aeris asked.

"Oh, I always love it when you give me compliments, Aeris. It raises my self-esteem ever so much," the man said smiling. "Now you know as much as I do that I don't just pop up and say hi for no reason."

"Why did you bring us here?" asked Aeris.

"I told you, I didn't, really, I'm not lying," the man said. "I think it's far more fun to watch you two do your thing than have you walk around in disguises but this isn't my doing at all. In fact I'm here because you're here."

"What the hell is going on?" asked Cloud.

Both Aeris and the man looked to him.

"You think I'm here for him, don't you?" asked the man.

"Tell me you're not," Aeris said.

The man put a hand over his heart, "Sweetheart, really, I'm hurt. You know I only do all that Angel of Death stuff part time."

"So then why are you here?" she asked not yet ready to let her guard down it seemed.

"Oh, you know me, just traveling through space and time, heard my attractive little Aeris was back in town. Not just back in town in fact, but _alive and in another time_," the man said, "obviously I'm supposed to come here and get you the hell out because…well…you aren't supposed to be here but you knew that already. When I discovered that I, in fact, _could not_ get you two out, I had to come here to find out who exactly wanted you to stay."

"You figure out who yet?" asked Aeris.

"No, but you know all us Cetra expect one guy for everything nowadays," the man said smiling, "and you realize in this time, he's alive."

"Who?" asked Cloud.

"Oh, come on," the man said smiling, "everybody's favourite buddy, credited with the worst psychotic break down…ever. I know you know this one…anybody, you _definitely know this one_ guys, Aeris? No?"

"Sephiroth," Cloud said lowering his gun.

"_A-ring-a-ding_!" the man said laughing. "I shouldn't be all that surprised. You should be able to smell the guy from a mile away, you've killed him…what…twice now?"

"Give or take," Cloud muttered.

"Come on Aeris, beautiful, put down the weapon, let's all be friends," the man said.

Aeris hesitated and put away her staff.

"Good, now I can kill you all," the man said.

Cloud and Aeris raised their weapons.

"I'm just _kidding_," said the man laughing, "lighten up guys, all the shit you're gonna be going through with time travel you need to work up a sense of humour!"

"Cloud, this is Samael," Aeris reluctantly introduced, "he's something of a free agent in the Lifestream."

"A mercenary one might say. I used to do some dead collection for the Ancients so I gained a bad reputation as you can see. My friends call me Sam, if you wanna be my friend you can call me Sam…if you don't you can still call me Sam just don't tell anybody or I can't say 'my friends call me Sam' anymore," Sam said smiling amiably.

"Cloud," Cloud said shaking Sam's hand, a little annoyed by the man's overly elated attitude but also a bit amused by it, "you're an Ancient."

"Well, a lot of people don't like the idea, but yes, dead and floating in the Lifestream with the rest of them, you know," Sam replied.

"Uh, here," Cloud said turning to give Aeris her new clothes, "hope they're satisfactory."

She took the clothes and nodded, "What do you know about our being here, Samael?"

"See, Aeris here insists on calling me Samael to unnecessarily emphasize that I'm _most definitely not her friend_. They say women are hard to understand, but I know how to translate everything about her," Sam said matter-of-factly, "in truth I've got a bit of a crush on her, but I've realized the fact she would rather kill me sort of hinders that you know, very Romeo and Juliet."

"Who and who?" asked Cloud.

"Romeo…" Sam paused, "wrong plane of existence, sorry, I get them mixed up sometimes. Actually it's nothing like Romeo and Juliet, but if you don't know who they are then you can't really call me on that can you?"

Cloud just stared at him; he didn't need to take the helmet off to convey his confusion.

"Look, he can explain things later," Aeris said, "I have to change and we need to get out of sight."

"Look, here you come," Sam said pointing to the Cloud and Aeris from the past, "it's rather strange isn't it, staring at yourself from afar."

"Come on, let's go," Aeris said.

Cloud followed Aeris and Sam walked behind them.

Sam smiled, "Although, you know, this is kind of good for me, because I do have this recurring dream of having _two _of Aeris."

Cloud and Aeris both stopped and looked at him.

"Oh, sorry, did I take that one too far?" Sam asked. "I can never tell when to stop, you know?"


	8. Sky Holes

**Chapter 7**

**Sky Holes**

The sun was setting; it would be dark in a little while. Vincent and Tifa stood silently side by side on the ridge overlooking the big black construct that had so single-handedly threatened to destroy them all. Vincent staring as if in hopes of its walls holding some answers and Tifa in hopes of it just disappearing altogether and saving them all the trouble.

Most of the black creatures—or "Shadows" as Wymond told them they were called—had gathered around the building, surrounding it. It seemed like they might be guarding it. Vincent figured the Shadows thought of the building as their home base, now that the outsiders had vacated they wanted it back. Rarely had they been attacked by the black creatures, the Shadows, but when they were it was small attacks the largest groups consisting of only three.

It was a relief to quickly learn that Wymond's Masamune Blade could in fact kill the monsters. Out of all of them he was the only who could really damage the things. The guardian told them that it was possible for them to be killed by conventional weapons but it took a great deal of damage to do so. It was probable that if the entire group were to attack one together they could easily destroy it. It also helped that Vincent's powerful revolver knocked the Shadows off their feet when he shot them.

In large numbers the black creatures might be a danger but a small group could easily be dispatched, especially with Wymond attacking.

"I know we've been through a lot," Tifa said breaking the silence, "but do you get the feeling this one might do us in?"

Vincent turned his head slightly to look at her, "I think whatever being that controls fate needs to stop screwing us over."

Tifa looked at him and after a few moments laughed, "Vincent's the one that says what we're all thinking, that's different."

"I would think by now some of us deserve a break," Vincent said.

Tifa laughed again.

"What?" asked Vincent.

"Before, that was just so out of character for you to say," Tifa said, "it sounded funny coming from you."

"My jokes aren't funny, but things people normally say are," Vincent muttered and shook his head, "it's really not worth it."

"Yeah, I know," Tifa said, "it's hard not being so dark and anti-social."

"I might take that as an insult if it weren't true," Vincent replied.

"Yo, Vince, Tifa, get down here, now!" yelled Barret.

"Don't call him Vince!" Tifa yelled back and headed down the ridge.

"That's my line," Vincent murmured and followed her.

The two rejoined the group who now sat in a circle around Cid starting a fire, the group now included Rufus Shinra whom Reno had brought back. Elena and Rude had been sent off by Rufus to research something that involved finding cures for diseases, like the Geostigma, from Mako and couldn't get in contact with them.

"Should have brought some damn Materia for this instead of doing this shit the old fashioned way," Cid complained.

"I have to take your airship," Wymond said.

Cid looked up from the started fire, "For what?"

"This is what we called you down for," Barret said to Vincent and Tifa.

"I just got a message from Aeris," Wymond said hurriedly.

"How's it going on the other…dimension…end…of things?" asked Reno.

"Something's gone wrong," Rufus said instinctively.

"Someone interfered with the trip to the future, they're in the past," Wymond said. "She's hoping I'll know what to do, but without knowing who it is that's causing the interference I can't do anything."

"The Forgotten City," Rufus said, "you can connect with other times better there."

Wymond looked at Rufus, "How do you know so much?"

Rufus looked to the rest of the group, "A…uh…series of unfortunate incidents allowed me to learn many things about the Ancients."

"The same series of incidents that allowed you to end up in the condition you were in I suppose?" asked Wymond.

"Well, it could have been much worse," Rufus said, "I could have been blown up completely so just having all my limbs is fine with me."

"So the Forgotten City it is," Cid said, "right now?"

"The longer they stay in the past the more dangerous it becomes for both them and us," Wymond replied.

"Well, let's get the hell outta here then," Cid said.

"Someone should stay and watch the building, just in case…this…Ancient Black thing…shows up," Reno suggested.

"Reno and I will watch the construct," Rufus said.

"I won't need very many people, I don't expect much resistance," Wymond said.

"Cid, you fly the Highwind, Tifa and I will accompany Wymond to the Forgotten City," Vincent said. "The rest of you should set up a watch for the building and the Shadows."

Everyone nodded and appeared to have accepted Vincent as something of a leader when Cloud was gone even though the last time Cloud had been absent Cid had been chosen as replacement leader. Tifa, Cid, Wymond and Vincent boarded the Highwind leaving the others behind.

"I'm not sure about all this time travel stuff, but you sure this won't warn whoever's causing the problem?" asked Cid.

Wymond looked at him, "Only the Cetra can use the Forgotten City in such a way. This person would not know that I know who they are."

"Could this just be an accident?" asked Vincent.

"The only other way this could have happened is if Aeris made a mistake," Wymond said, "and she is no novice to time travel. It is extremely rare for a Cetra such as herself to perform such a simple task incorrectly. I have no doubt this is someone else's doing."

"Wait, hold on," Tifa said, "you're saying Aeris can time travel whenever she wants and she doesn't need that machine in the building?"

"A Cetra that has returned to the Lifestream is one of the most powerful beings that could ever exist," Wymond said. "There isn't much she cannot do."

"Then why did she use the tube and the machine if she didn't need it?" asked Tifa.

Wymond looked around hoping for one of the others to say it, they didn't, "Well, I…was kind of hoping that would be apparent."

Cid tried to hold back a laugh but failed and Tifa looked at him, "What?"

Cid shook his head and stifled the laugh.

"I don't get it," Tifa said.

"She…" Wymond looked around for help again, "well, she, I believe she did it for the same reason she decided to use only one tube."

"Oh," Vincent said, "I hadn't thought of that."

"Thought of what?" asked Tifa.

"I…" Wymond shook his head, "I don't see how I can make it anymore clear without saying it."

"I think he's trying to say she did it to be _close_ to Cloud," Cid said through another laugh.

"Well, yes, that's…what I was trying to convey," Wymond said awkwardly.

"She wouldn't do that," Tifa said.

"I guess there aren't many good dead candidates for her, if you know what I mean," Cid said still laughing.

"The competition in the Lifestream is kind of _dead_, I guess," Vincent said.

Cid laughed harder, "See now _that_ was a good joke!"

Vincent shrugged.

"Well, I don't see why you would be so surprised," Wymond said, "is it not obvious?"

"Is what not obvious?" asked Tifa.

"That…Aeris…well, you know," Wymond said and shook his head, "alright look, is it not obvious that Aeris likes Cloud? I haven't had a conversation in around three hundred years just give me a break okay?"

"It was never really made that obvious," Cid said, "but you could guess at it."

"Considering how little time they had to explore such a possibility I doubt it would be that obvious to Cloud as well," Vincent said.

"Yeah, I'm sure if Sephiroth had stabbed me Cloud would've just kicked me off into the water and then continued on," Cid said smiling.

"The incident with the Meteor would have been much simpler if that were the case," Vincent said.

Cid looked at him.

"Uh…of course had that happened...who would fly the Highwind?" said Vincent quickly.

"Thank you," Cid replied.

Tifa smiled at Vincent who just turned back to stare out into the darkening sky. The Highwind was running at almost maximum speed and everything within view blurred past them.

Suddenly something caught the corner of Vincent's eye, he looked and whatever it had been was gone.

"Did you see that?" asked Wymond, Tifa and Cid looked at the guardian confused.

"I saw something," Vincent said moving around the bridge to get a better view of the outside.

"Wait, there, what's that?" asked Tifa.

Straight ahead and off into the distance was a strange looking black cloud, there was just enough light left in the sky that it was noticeable. Had it been nighttime it would have been completely camouflaged.

"That can't be good," Cid muttered.

Then the cloud slowly seemed to be sucked into itself and started to swirl in a circular motion. After only a few seconds the swirling cloud became a large black spot in the sky in front of them.

"This can't be," Wymond said.

"What's wrong?" asked Tifa.

"Sky Holes," Wymond replied, "distortions in time, it's far too early. It takes time for a paradox such as this to appear."

"How bad is that for us?" asked Cid.

"The Holes themselves are only dangerous if you run into them," Wymond said.

"So we can avoid them," Cid said.

"It's the things that manifest inside the Sky Holes that are dangerous," Wymond finished.

"Oh, well what the hell lives inside one of those…" Cid was cut off with his answer. Out of the black hole appeared a huge creature that was at least twice the size of the Highwind. It was completely black with huge wings. It flew upright unlike a bird, as if it was standing straight up in the air. The creature's massive wings flapped slowly, which looked strange because the creature was so big it would have been thought the smaller wings would need to flap more to keep it airbourne.

"…for fuck…" Cid muttered, "what the hell is _that now_?"

"Another Shadow creature," Wymond said, "a more advanced species than the ones you fought on the ground."

"Can we hurt it?" asked Vincent.

"It works on the same principles as its smaller ground-based counterparts," Wymond said, "it is somewhat stronger and will take a massive amount of conventional weapons at once to damage it."

"How massive exactly?" asked Cid.

"There's no specific calculation," Wymond said, "just…a large amount."

"Hold on, let me know if this'll do it," Cid said lifting a metal cover on the control console to reveal an almost comical looking huge red button. Cid slammed his palm down on the button and new controls and buttons appeared where Cid controlled the ship.

On the outside the Highwind went under some other transformations. Spots opened up all over the airship and out of those spots protruded weapons of all kinds. Some were high-powered machine guns that could fire up to 3000 rounds of ammunition per minute. There were also a number of launchers that could fire a constant stream of highly explosive missiles. Among the large number of weapons that appeared suddenly on the ship was one huge launcher that protruded from the bottom of the ship and pointed straight toward their enemy. This weapon was the newest Cid had added to the Highwind.

The big weapon had the ability to fire five-missile bursts in rapid succession. The damage caused by this weapon alone usually resulted in more damage than all the missile launchers and machine guns mounted on the ship were capable of.

Cid had turned their means of transportation into a veritable airbourne weapon of mass destruction.

Tifa looked to Cid in shock, "When did you get all this stuff added to the Highwind?"

"Upgrades here and there, you know," Cid said with a shrug and looked to Wymond, "think this'll do it?"

Wymond looked a little surprised, "I think you could possibly kill ten of these creatures with this aircraft."

"That what I like to hear," Cid said ominously, "because I intend to blow this bastard out of the air!"

Vincent grabbed a chair beside him, "I suggest you all hang on to something."

Cid let out a growl and fired the airship forward at full speed…what one might call ramming speed because if the guns didn't work Cid had every intention of impaling the thing.

The Shadow creature saw the object flying at it at high speed and was about to attempt to blow it out of the air when the object fired first.

The first wave was the ship's machine guns, a massive wave of bullets slammed into the Shadow creature and immediately the force of the weapons started pushing the creature backward in the air.

If the Shadow had intended to retaliate in any way it was interrupted by the sudden wall of missiles that hit and exploded on every possible part of the Shadow's body. When the black monstrosity had suddenly become more of a large ball of fire and smoke the huge weapon started firing its volleys of missiles.

The first five missiles flew into the encompassing cloud of fire and smoke and then exploded adding to the chaos that was the product of the Highwind's relentless weapons. Finally, the machine guns ran out of ammo all along the ship and the missiles stopped firing. Cid flew the Highwind right through the residual cloud of destruction and came out the other side without so much as a bump let alone a nose dive into the monster.

"Hell yes, that bastard is _dead_!" Cid yelled, "wasted a whole lot of ammo on it but it is in pieces!"

Cid turned the Highwind in a one-eighty to view its handiwork. The Shadow creature was still in the air but its wings started to slowly stop moving and where its back had been was now a very large hole, the hole which was also in the creature's stomach that they had flown through to get by.

"Impressive," Wymond said.

Cid ran a hand over the control console and smiled, "Nothing she can't go through, I guarantee."

The Shadow finally dropped out of the sky and as soon as it hit the ground began to sizzle as if being put in extremely hot water. After a few moments the monster was reduced to nothing but black steam and was gone.

"How many more times do you think you could do this?" asked Wymond.

"I can reload my weapons fully right now, but to do it a third time I'm gonna need to stock up, why?" asked Cid.

"A weapon this powerful would be very useful to battle the Ancient Black," Wymond said, "how quickly can you find the supplies to stock your ship for a third attack?"

"Anytime tomorrow, loading the ship up will only take a few minutes most of it's automated," Cid said, "it's the cost that's the problem."

"Gil is not an issue," Wymond said. "You talk to your supplier I will handle the currency."

"You got a lot of Gil I guess?" asked Cid.

"Not right now, but I, like all guardians of the Cetra, have the ability to manipulate things," Wymond said.

"You're saying you can turn things into Gil?" asked Cid.

Wymond nodded, "It is an ability given to guardians in the event they must use currency to survive a situation, a situation such as this. I can use any solid object to create Gil."

Cid smiled, "That's one hell of a helpful trick. So what, you need like a bunch of rocks or something?"

"One large rock will also do," Wymond said, "I can make as much Gil as the equivalent of how many particles are inside that rock."

"That's a lot," Cid muttered.

"Yes it is, we should talk about how much you need later," Wymond said.

Cid turned the ship and headed toward the Forgotten City. They made their destination in a few minutes and Vincent quickly turned to Cid.

"Keep the Highwind in the air," Vincent said, "if something goes wrong we're going to want a quick exit. Wymond, Tifa and I will go into the city and come back as quickly as possible. If you run into anymore of those flying Shadows try and avoid it and come back for us if you can."

"I'll be here," Cid said.

Vincent nodded, "Let's go."

Cid dropped the three of them off and took to the skies again; they entered into the city and quickly followed Wymond.

Whether it was some sort of twisted humour or just coincidence their destination turned out to be the exact same spot where Aeris had been killed. Wymond made his way across to the exact spot while Tifa stopped and looked around for a moment.

"It's been a while since I've seen this place," Tifa said.

Vincent was silent, not sure exactly how he should add to that.

"Does it make you sad at all?" Tifa asked.

Vincent was silent again.

"Being here, remembering, does it even affect you?" she asked.

"I…" Vincent was about to say when he was cut off.

"I'm going in the water, keep an eye out for any trouble," Wymond said to them and the two nodded. The guardian then promptly jumped into the water and floated just below the surface.

Vincent turned back to Tifa as if in an attempt to try and answer her question but decided instead to walk to the water's edge and look in at Wymond. Tifa stood and watched Vincent silently doing as she had done many times: accepting silence as an answer from Vincent.

Over the course of less than an hour she had been told indirectly that Cloud was in love with another woman, which of course Tifa had more or less suspected of Aeris and Cloud, and had a crisis that could involve the end of existence itself. So far it hadn't been such a good day overall for Tifa. After all that Vincent's usual dark and silent personality began to get on her nerves. With her becoming further and further away from Cloud she had hoped to find more of a friend with Vincent. Though over the time she had managed to spend with him he hadn't really changed all that much. It was her fault Vincent had started his attempt at telling jokes, that had given her some hope that maybe she could change Vincent altogether. Vincent, however, was still just Vincent.

Vincent looked back briefly at Tifa, knowing that another person in his position would try and answer her question. After spending a lot of time observing people he could tell well enough that Tifa was sad, the reasons behind it were unknown but he guessed it was a mixture of their situation and where they now stood and the memories connected. Vincent looked back to the water and for the second time that night something appeared in his peripheral vision. Vincent looked suddenly in the direction of the disturbance and saw, again for the second time, a huge black object, this time under the water.

"What now," Vincent muttered trying to get a better look at the dark object. It was clear the thing was moving at a slow pace, but toward Wymond. Vincent wasn't taking any chances. "Tifa, stay as far from the water as you can!"

Tifa looked up to question Vincent but he had already dived into the water. She immediately noticed the large black thing moving toward Wymond and Vincent, and picking up speed.

"Oh no," Tifa said.

Under water, Vincent swam to Wymond and grabbed him. Vincent looked to the thing coming toward them and knew he was right to grab the guardian. Even through his blurred under water vision he could make out the massive creature. It had a head similar to a bird with a hooked beak and the rest of its body was mostly its large wings that apparently propelled it through the water. Vincent guessed this was another Shadow creature.

Vincent quickly propelled himself and Wymond toward solid ground, Wymond, probably confused, was kicking in the water making their trip much faster than it would have been had it just been Vincent.

Vincent had Wymond out of the water and on dry land.

"I hope you got all the information you needed," Vincent said.

"Yes, I did, what happened?" asked Wymond.

Vincent opened his mouth to answer him when something grabbed his crimson cloak in the water and dragged him under the surface.

"Vincent!" Tifa yelled.

She watched the black thing move away in the water, obviously dragging Vincent with it. Then suddenly the Shadow creature stopped and seemed to be having trouble swimming. Flashes could be seen under water which Tifa could only assume was Vincent's gun going off.

"He can't kill that thing alone," Wymond said drawing his sword. Before the guardian could move the creature suddenly stopped moving. After a while it began to slowly drift away.

"No," Tifa said.

"It got him," Wymond muttered.

Tifa ran toward the water but Wymond grabbed her, "Don't, giving it another enemy to kill won't help things."

"He might still be okay!" Tifa cried.

"If he was okay he would still be fighting," Wymond said quietly.

Tifa stopped struggling against Wymond and just stared off into the water…just like that…Vincent was gone.

"He can't…" Tifa muttered.

"Come on, let's get out of here, there may be something else like that one around," Wymond said.

Wymond was almost carrying Tifa away as she stared blankly at the water. Only a few minutes ago she was thinking about how much his personality annoyed her and now he was gone.

"Vincent…" Tifa said hopelessly.

He didn't respond.


	9. The Unavoidable Paradox

**Chapter 8**

**The Unavoidable Paradox**

Cloud, Aeris and Samael stood atop the weapons shop watching as Cloud and Aeris' past selves finished rounding up all they'd need to dress Cloud up like a girl.

"I have to say, you must be very secure with your feminine side," Sam said.

"It was necessity," Cloud muttered.

"Well…yes, of course it was…" Sam said holding back a laugh, "it was very important you get in disguise to elude the…what…_five_ battle-capable people inside?"

"Would you shut up?" asked Aeris shaking her head.

"All in all you both look good in dresses," Sam said.

"Thank you," Aeris replied.

"Whether that's an insult or a compliment in Cloud's case I don't know," Sam said laughing again.

"Let me kill him," Aeris said to Cloud.

"You don't have to ask my permission," Cloud replied.

"Alright, alright, sorry, look you two are headed toward the mansion," Sam said. "We all know what happens, wanna fast forward?"

"Fast forward?" asked Cloud.

"I can speed up time, of course," Sam said.

"Shouldn't we be trying to figure out who brought us here?" asked Cloud.

"What's the verdict on your guardian, beautiful, anything?" asked Sam.

"He hasn't responded yet," Aeris replied, "and use my name."

"What's wrong with 'beautiful?'" asked Sam.

"It's not my name," Aeris replied in annoyance.

"It's not a lie, either," Sam said shrugging.

Aeris muttered something under her breath.

"I think fast forward would be a good idea," Cloud said finally.

"Alright then," Sam rubbed his hands together, "Mr. Crusher, maximum warp, make it so."

"What?" asked Cloud.

"Star Tre…oh, right, they don't have any good stuff in this plane of existence," Sam said shaking his head and he snapped his fingers.

Suddenly it was as if the whole world sped up and shot by steadily quicker until it became just a blur around them. They, however, weren't moving, they were standing still. It was like time was washing over them and they were frozen. It stopped and everything seemed to go back to normal speed.

Now the three of them stood atop a decrepit train, Cloud recognized immediately where they were.

"The Train Graveyard," Sam said smiling and looking to Aeris and Cloud, "you know what that means."

"Sector 7," Cloud said.

"Biggest pancake dinner ever," Sam said, "_squish_!"

"You sure know how to make light of something that horrible," Aeris shot back.

"It's already happened," Sam said shrugging, "I told you, you guys have to start up some kind of sense of humour."

"Where's the other us?" asked Cloud.

"There we go," Sam said pointing at the past Aeris, Cloud and Tifa as they climbed atop a train and continued to make their way across the graveyard.

"This was inconvenient as hell," Cloud muttered.

"Yeah," Aeris agreed.

They watched as the three of their past selves made it out of the Train Graveyard.

"Let's go," Aeris said, "fast forward."

"Where now?" asked Sam.

"Kalm," Aeris replied.

"Alright, you're skipping all the action, but your call," Sam said, "personally I was hoping to catch Cloud on the motorcycle again, that was cool."

"Just go," Aeris said.

Sam snapped his fingers and the world blurred by and slowed again.

"That's strange," Sam said looking around.

"This isn't Kalm," Aeris said.

"Really?" asked Sam sarcastically, "I hadn't noticed that! I just said _that's strange_ because there was a man walking up a wall over there."

"What?" asked Cloud.

"They have invented sarcasm in this plane of existence, yes?" asked Sam.

"Shut up, look," Aeris said pointing down from their rooftop to see herself running past them alone.

"You're going to grab Marlene and take her to your house," Cloud said.

"Why are we here?" asked Aeris.

Sam shrugged, "Something stopped us, I hadn't intended on stopping here."

Cloud watched as out of one of the buildings to the side stepped three Shinra soldiers in blue.

"Wait…" Sam said looking at them strangely, "they aren't here."

"Yeah they are, they're right there," Cloud said.

"No, he's right," Aeris said, "Shinra didn't get me until after I saved Marlene."

"This is bad," Sam muttered.

The past Aeris skidded to a halt and started talking to the three soldiers. After a moment one raised a rifle and shot her.

"Holy shit, stay here!" Sam growled diving off the roof.

Beside a wide-eyed Cloud Aeris dropped to one knee and held her left shoulder.

"What's wrong?" asked Cloud.

"She gets shot I get shot," Aeris growled as blood ran from between her fingers.

Cloud looked for any kind of healing item but he knew he hadn't brought any with him.

"I'm fine just make sure they don't kill her!" Aeris said. "Me…whoever."

On the ground Samael knelt down beside the past Aeris.

"You alright, sweetheart?" asked Sam looking down at her.

She didn't respond, Sam put a hand over her wounded shoulder and after a second took it off. The bullet wound was gone, on the roof the other Aeris' wound healed accordingly.

"Hey, buddy, get away from the Ancient!" said one of the soldiers.

"Yeah, we've…" the soldier started laughing.

"Been ordered," the third one added, "I forget, is she the Ancient?"

The first one laughed, "I don't know, that's why I shot her. If she's an Ancient she'll heal, right, 'cause she's like…Ancient!"

Clearly they were drunk; Sam looked at them in confusion. They weren't supposed to show up; just their being here was a paradox.

Sam finally responded, "Of course, your logic is if she's an Ancient she's obviously invincible right?"

"Well…is that what we think?" asked the second one to the others, after a moment the third one nodded and the first one shook his head.

"No or yes?" asked Sam.

This time the second one shook his head 'no' and the other two decided to nod 'yes.'

"Raise your hand if you have no idea," Sam said.

They all raised their hands.

"If Ancients were invincible why is she the last of her kind?" asked Sam. "To be a _last_ others who were Ancients would in fact have to _die_, no?"

The three looked at each other and looked back, the middle one spoke, "Hey, you got a point, what're you some kinda genius or something?"

"No, I'm an Ancient," Sam replied.

"Oh, okay…" the third soldier stopped, "…wait, what?"

Sam waved his hand and all three soldiers flew off their feet and sailed off in different directions.

"Idiots," Sam muttered and turned to the past Aeris.

"Do I know you?" asked Aeris.

Sam knew talking to her would be a paradox in itself but the fact that three soldiers had appeared that shouldn't be there made it less dangerous.

"Nope," Sam replied, "you just looked like you could use some help."

"Thank you," Aeris said.

"No problem, looks like there's trouble you should get outta here," Sam said and then quickly ran past her. Aeris didn't look back and ran to get Marlene.

"We have a very big problem," Sam said now standing in front of the other Aeris and Cloud.

"What just happened?" asked Aeris.

"Paradox, in fact I believe it's a sign of the worst kind," Sam said. "We call it the _Unavoidable Paradox_."

"Unavoidable Paradox?" asked Cloud.

"We have time, let me try and explain as easily as possible," Sam started pacing, "you see, there are many different alternate universes; I guess you'd say, different worlds. I don't wanna get into a Kingdom Hearts style analogy here…"

"Kingdom whats?" asked Cloud.

Sam's eyes widened, "You guys don't have that either…what a boring place this is."

"Sam, move on," Aeris said.

"Right, right, well, when a person…for whatever strange reason…creates the Unavoidable Paradox this person usually seeks to destroy a particular world. In this case, _this world_," Sam said, "the Paradox can only destroy _this_ particular time, but usually the person creating the Unavoidable will send paradox-creating artifacts to connected worlds."

"Like a big black building," Cloud muttered.

"You know of one such artifact?" asked Sam.

"It's already begun," Aeris said.

"The Ancient Black?" asked Sam.

"Is that who's doing this?" asked Cloud.

"No, no, the Ancient Black is merely a bystander, the person who brought you here is the person who put that building in your world," Sam said.

"The Ancient Black is just a creature of opportunity," Cloud said nodding.

"Yes, if this person is smart he knows the Ancient Black will do the destroying for him so he doesn't have to use the Unavoidable on each and every connected world."

"So who the hell is this guy?" asked Cloud.

"I have no idea," Sam said, "but he seems to be playing with you because the Unavoidable was cast on you, Cloud."

"Why me?" asked Cloud.

Sam shrugged, "You're the only guy who really has anything to lose, and he's playing on that."

"To lose?" asked Cloud.

Sam gestured to Aeris, "Little case of wrong place wrong time and wrong _Forgotten City_ if you know what I mean…hint, hint, nudge, nudge."

Cloud just looked at Aeris quietly.

"_Wink, wink_," continued Sam.

"Yes we understand!" Aeris said sharply.

"Alright," Sam said putting up his hands.

"What can I do?" asked Cloud.

"Like it or not you have to create a Paradox, it's unavoidable," Sam smiled, "isn't that funny, you can use an adjective that's the same as its title."

Aeris ignored him, "Are you sure it's the Forgotten City?"

"No, but I would take it to the bank," Sam replied. "That's where I'd choose."

Aeris looked to the ground.

"The Forgotten City, not the bank," Sam said.

"Shut up," Aeris said, not so sharply this time.

"How exactly do I create this paradox?" asked Cloud.

"Usually it's forced on one by a choice," Sam said, "in this case door number one: let Sephiroth kill Aeris and kill your time's Aeris creating a paradox by the death of two people who can't coexist in the same world. Or door number two: save this time's Aeris and save your time's Aeris letting live two people who can't coexist in the same world."

Cloud shook his head.

"Really, I'd think it would be pretty simple," Sam said shrugging.

"You have to let him kill me," Aeris said, "the paradox won't be that bad. If you let things run their course the people of this time will go on as normal lessening the paradox."

"No," Cloud said quietly.

"You have to, Sam can help you stop all this," Aeris said, "it was short but it was worth seeing you again."

"Oh, this is touching, really," Sam said, "but hell if he's watching you die again and, beautiful, hell if I will too."

"What?" asked Aeris, "you can't interfere, it could kill you."

"I can always find a loophole honey, that's what I do," Sam said, "no way you're going down on my watch baby, hell no."

"You can't…" Aeris started.

"What happens after we stop it from happening?" asked Cloud cutting her off.

"You can never be perfectly sure how it will go down, most likely this existence will deteriorate," Sam replied.

"Will that affect anything else?" asked Cloud.

"Isolated incident, only this time will be affected," Sam said.

"You can't do this everyone on this planet will die!" Aeris exclaimed.

"Are you prepared to do this, Cloud? Sacrifice the lives of every man woman and child on this planet for her?" asked Sam.

Cloud nodded, he was surprised at just how little thought was involved in such a selfish choice on such a grand scale.

Sam clapped, "A man after my own heart, now let's boogie before the sky starts falling."

Aeris tried once more to protest but Sam snapped his fingers and the world was blurring by.

"What if there's another paradox like the one with the soldiers?" asked Cloud, he found his voice echoed strangely as the world shot by.

"I'm sending us straight to the choice, for there to be a choice Aeris will have to live up to where she was supposed to," Sam replied. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," Cloud replied.

The world came to a halt and they now stood in the Forgotten City, again memories flooded Cloud briefly.

"You've got about thirty seconds," Sam said pointing to the altar where Aeris now kneeled. The past Cloud was on his way toward her.

"Cloud, please, I don't want you to…" Aeris tried one last time to dissuade him.

Cloud removed his helmet and discarded it, looking at Aeris, "I can't watch it again. You can't ask me to do that!"

Aeris opened her mouth to speak but no words came.

"Now or never, buddy," Sam said to Cloud.

Cloud turned and knew he couldn't reach Aeris by foot to stop Sephiroth, he quickly realized he still had the soldier's rifle in hand.

It all seemed to happen very fast.

Sephiroth appeared out of nowhere and descended quickly from above, Masamune Blade pointed downward.

The past Cloud stood unawares of what was to come.

The Cloud in Shinra garb cocked the rifle and aimed up at Sephiroth, aiming a little ahead so he could lead Sephiroth into the bullets.

The large sword was only a foot or so from Aeris when Cloud opened fire.

It was as if someone had taken a clock and smashed their hand down on it, then looked at the stunned time piece and laughed at it. Someone had just defied the laws of time and space…in fact one just had given time a kick in the ass…so to speak.

Bullets peppered Sephiroth, some hitting him, others sending his sword flying out of his hands and away into the water. The rest of Cloud's bullets smashed into Sephiroth's mid-section sending him flying head over heels out over the water and splashing finally into the watery depths.

Cloud knew well enough that would never be enough to kill Sephiroth.

"Well aimed," Sam said, "it doesn't matter if they see you know, you can't screw up time anymore than you already have."

The past Aeris opened her eyes and stood up, looking around in confusion. The Aeris beside the Cloud holding the rifle started to feel strange, maybe it had something to with the fact she was witnessing a turn of events that involve her, a turn of events that involve her that had never actually happened.

The past group turned and saw the three of them, the spikey-haired man in a Shinra soldier get up minus the helmet, a nondescript man standing with his hands in his pockets, and a woman in a leather jacket and sunglasses. They had just enough to time to stare at them strangely for a moment, and then it seemed like an earthquake hit.

The ground shook and it knocked both past and present Aeris off their feet, in both instances Cloud caught them. The water around the altar seemed to start evaporating, sizzling, and then just disappearing as if dissolving into nothing. It left a strange hole in the water. The hole looked like an average crater but the water around it didn't flood in to fill the space like it should. It was as if there was a shield blocking the water from rushing into that dry spot. Cloud thought it was very likely a paradox of some kind, nature wasn't reacting with itself the way it should. The world itself was falling apart.

"It is most definitely time to go," Sam said in a sing-song voice.

"I'd say that's a good idea," Cloud said.

"I don't know where we're gonna end up but it's not here," Sam warned.

"Taking us to another plane of existence could kill you," Aeris said over the sound of every structure in the area collapsing.

"Yeah, yeah, now you care about me," Sam said shaking his head, "women."

"Yeah," Cloud agreed.

"That's the spirit, play along with Uncle Samael, the world's a brighter place," Sam said smiling as an entire chunk of the ground disappeared in front of him. "Okay, here we go!"

Sam closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate very hard, after a moment his teeth were gritted and his eyes squinted.

"Come on, come on, you know you wanna let me break the rules again!" Sam growled.

Obviously someone did, in a bright flash the three of them were gone.

§

Back in the Forgotten City of Cloud's home plane of existence the black water-bound Shadow creature had been roaming the water silently. It was swimming in the victory of its first kill and it made a turn to finish off its now dead prey. The Shadow set its sights on the inanimate crimson and black figure floating in the water.

The Shadow creature closed in on its dead enemy, thinking in its decidedly one-track mind exactly how it should start dismembering its dead foe. The Shadow opened its hooked beak, ready to start by severing the crimson cloaked figure's head.

Suddenly a golden clawed hand grabbed the top of the beak and a foot stepped on the other forcing the beak to stay open.

Red eyes glowed to life.

The helpless prey began to change, started to grow wings…

Chaos had arrived…better late than never.


	10. Vincent's Paradox

-Just wanted to say thanks for all the reviews I've gotten so far, I've gone from only three to suddenly eight and the feedback is appreciated, glad you're enjoying it.

-On the heels of that…if the whole time travel alternate dimensions thing confuses you in any way shape or form…well…it might get worse, so if you do need anything clarified as the time travel gets repeatedly used put it in your review and I'll make sure to either explain in my reply or clarify within the story. Enjoy.

**Chapter 9**

**Vincent's Paradox**

The water-bound Shadow shot up through the air with a jet of water and arced, ending with a headfirst dive straight into dry land. The ground shuddered and cracked a bit as the creature smashed down heavily. On its tail shot a winged creature that immediately rammed into the downed Shadow. The impact drove the Shadow harder into the ground and then almost immediately the winged creature picked up the Shadow and tossed it back in the water.

Chaos floated above the water, wings going up and down casually, then, after a moment of what appeared to be time to think, it shot with a large splash into the water again. Chaos flew through the water as if it were the same density as air and blasted yet again into the Shadow creature. Chaos tore away at the Shadow with its claws and simply smashed and attacked with every viable part of its body. The sheer ferocity of the attack by Chaos didn't allow the Shadow even the slightest chance of fighting back.

By now the Shadow was knocked so senseless fighting back wasn't an option at all, as Chaos hit the creature the entire area around it exploded and sent up a huge jet of water. The white-hot explosion completely incinerated the Shadow leaving nothing left but sizzling water to prove its existence.

Chaos shot out of the sizzling liquid and then quickly shot back in, surfacing with an object in its claws: a large revolver. It dropped the gun and landed with a sense of calm and finality that seemed very strange on such a creature.

Then the wings disappeared and the monster began to change, shrink a little, and within moments Chaos had given way to Vincent Valentine once more.

The battered and torn Vincent lay on his back, red eyes closed and his body unmoving. He lay like that for an amount of time that was unknown to him. Vincent was injured and tired from the brutal attacks he had received from the Shadow which had then brought on Chaos.

Finally, Vincent opened his eyes and looked around from his laying down position. He noticed everyone had left, he figured the Highwind was probably gone, too. They thought he was dead…no surprise, he'd thought he was dead too. Vincent had wondered if he could in fact die. As far as aging Vincent was immortal, but Vincent had never actually been killed by an enemy and he wondered if it was possible for him to die. He wondered if maybe he had been dead and it had been Chaos that brought him back to life but he couldn't be sure.

Vincent looked then at himself. He was soaked, which made sense as he had been under water for quite a while, and his clothing was a bit more ripped than it had been before. On second inspection his clothing didn't look all that much worse. If one ignored the cuts created by the Shadow it might have been thought the clothing had been designed in such a way.

After a few more seconds Vincent attempted to stand up. He rolled to his left and tried to push himself up but his arms gave out. He did manage to get himself to a sitting position, but he knew walking would be a task. Vincent reached into his crimson cloak and pulled out a potion. He only carried one, just in case, it was a low class potion but it did its job well enough. Had he carried a Hi-Potion or X-Potion he would have been healed much better but the standard potion allowed him at least the ability to get to his feet.

Vincent walked with a bit of a limp but otherwise he was in a much better state. He still looked ragged, and was dripping profusely with water.

He grabbed his revolver, which he knew would still work perfectly even though it had gotten wet. Though most firearms were known to malfunction when submerged in water, Vincent knew his gun was made especially to prevent this. His weapon was so heavily modified and so well constructed that such things didn't affect it.

Vincent began his trek outside and immediately saw what he expected, the Highwind was gone. Vincent traversed the landscape until he found himself a few feet away from the water. He couldn't remember exactly how long it had taken him to get this far but he knew he was probably in for some swimming if he wanted to get back to the location of the black building. It didn't matter…he was already pretty wet anyways.

"Hey there, looking for a ride?" yelled a voice, Vincent turned left to see a medium sized boat floating in toward shore. The owner of the voice was a man he had never seen before; he had long blonde hair and wore a white lab coat.

Vincent waved to him slightly and the man pulled the boat up to shore, Vincent climbed aboard.

"Welcome, where you headed to?" asked the man.

"What's left of Midgar or anywhere near there," Vincent replied.

"What's left," the man laughed, "Shinra hasn't run it down that much, but I know what you mean."

Vincent looked at the man strangely but his facial expression was hidden…_Shinra_. The man talked of Midgar as if it wasn't in ruins.

"I'm a scientist doing some research out here on the Ancients," the man explained as the vessel headed back out into the water. "I was going to the City of the Ancients, but I figured I'd come back with an air-based vehicle for convenience."

"That might be a good idea," Vincent replied.

The scientist stuck out his hand, "I'm Professor Gast, and you are?"

Vincent again had his facial expression hidden; he knew exactly who Professor Gast was. Though Vincent wasn't sure this was how he pictured the brilliant scientist…in retrospect he hadn't pictured the scientist _alive_. Vincent realized he must be seeing a younger version of the Professor.

After a pause Vincent took his hand, "Vincent Valentine."

Gast smiled, "A good surname, I know a man, Grimoire Valentine, do you have any relation?"

For the third time Vincent had his expression unnoticed, Grimoire…his father.

"Not that I know of," Vincent lied.

"I didn't think so, I'm sure he would have told me about you," Gast said smiling, "you look like quite the adventurer."

"You could say that," Vincent replied.

"Say, you wouldn't know anything about the City of the Ancients would you? It looks like you were coming from that direction," Gast asked.

"I ended up here by accident mostly, I'm not even quite sure of where I am," Vincent said, wanting to sound more clueless than he was. He was quite certain this was a side-effect of the black building's appearance.

"That's too bad, I was hoping to learn more about the Ancients, I've been told I'm the last one," Gast said.

It seemed the surprises liked Vincent today, this time it showed in his voice a bit.

"You are an Ancient?" asked Vincent.

"My father fell in love with an Ancient, or so I'm told," Gast replied smiling, "my father was a scientist, too."

This was Professor Gast's son?

"I'm…" Vincent began; his mind was reeling with all the strange information. "I'm sorry, I'm not really from around here, but I believe I have heard of the Gast name."

"I would think you would have," Gast said smiling, "my father got an Ancient pregnant twice."

Vincent chuckled a bit, not out of his finding the comment amusing, but just for the sake of the conversation…Vincent didn't chuckle all that much.

"Of course you know about what Shinra did as well," Gast said.

"Hojo killed your father and took your mother," Vincent said.

Gast looked at him strangely, "I wasn't expecting you to know that much. Yes, well, my mother and my younger sister. They overlooked me."

"Aeris," Vincent muttered.

"You knew my sister?" asked Gast in surprise.

"I knew someone named Aeris," Vincent said.

"My sister died a while ago," Gast said sadly, "something of another project my father was connected with ended up taking her life."

"Sephiroth," Vincent muttered.

"How…" Gast muttered looking at him strangely again, "…how did you know that?"

"We knew the same Aeris," Vincent said.

"You knew my sister," Gast said, eyes wide, "what was she like, what did you two do…before…she died?"

"She more or less saved the planet," Vincent replied.

"I knew it was her, she destroyed the Meteor," Gast said.

"Well, the Lifestream did it, but I have a feeling she had something to do with it," Vincent replied.

"This is amazing," Gast said, "you don't know how long I've waited for someone like you, please, tell me everything about her."

"I really need to be getting…" Vincent began.

"Please, I'll pay you, I'll do anything, just…tell me something, anything," Gast begged.

The sadness and need was almost tangible, even Vincent couldn't bring himself to say no.

"How long until we hit Midgar?" asked Vincent.

"With this boat's speed, thirty minutes," Gast replied.

"Better slow it down, you're going to need more than that," Vincent said.

"Of course," Gast said nodding happily, "_Lucrecia, come up here for a second please!_"

The surprises kept coming.

It was her, though she was a bit different. She had longer hair than he remembered and it was a different colour, a golden blonde that looked good on her. Of course Vincent knew any hair colour would have looked good on her. The fact she wasn't in a Mako crystal looked good on her too. Lucrecia came up from under the deck, she was wearing the same lab coat as Gast and she was as beautiful as ever.

If she wasn't behind that waterfall that meant many things must be different, whatever paradox Vincent was in his father was still alive, Gast had two children, and obviously Vincent himself did not exist.

"Did Grimoire…" Vincent couldn't help but say and in the process cut off Lucrecia as she was about to speak, "does Grimoire happen to have a child?"

"I thought you didn't know Grimoire Valentine?" asked Gast curiously.

Vincent cursed inwardly, he had said that, "I didn't know my father, maybe I am related."

Gast smiled, "Your long lost father, at this moment I could believe it. I don't think it's you though, his son is in the Turks."

Vincent nodded and looked to Lucrecia out of the corner of his eye; there was a chance for Vincent Valentine and Lucrecia Crescent in this existence it seemed.

"I don't know his name though," Gast continued, "I haven't seen Grimoire in a very long time."

"Vincent," Lucrecia spoke up suddenly, "Grimoire's son is named Vincent."

"Oh," Gast said smiling, "yes…his name is Vincent Valen…"

The Professor stopped and stared at Vincent strangely for what seemed like the millionth time, "…wait, aren't you?"

"Strange coincidence," Vincent replied.

"Yes…" Gast said still seeming unsure, but then turned to look at Lucrecia, "sorry, uh, Lucrecia this is Vincent Valentine."

"No relation as far as I know," Vincent said.

Lucrecia offered her hand but seemed very apprehensive.

"Don't worry, dear, he's a friend, he knew my sister," Gast said seeing how she looked at Vincent.

"It's alright, I don't usually come across as very inviting," Vincent said about to lower his hand when Lucrecia quickly shook it.

"Sorry," she said, "I shouldn't have reacted as I did, it's just you look strangely familiar."

"Do I look like this other Vincent?" asked Vincent, knowing it wasn't surprise or uncertainty he saw on her face, it was distrust. He then noticed his cloak wasn't covering his gun and realized that may have caused it.

"Maybe a little," Lucrecia said, "not quite as nicely dressed though I guess, you know those Turk types always wear suits."

Vincent knew better than most…firsthand.

"I try and stay away from them personally," Vincent said.

"As do I," Gast agreed, "never had a high opinion of Shinra's goons."

"That's because of Hojo," Lucrecia said, "if it wasn't for him you'd be alright with Shinra."

Gast didn't reply.

"Did you two know Hojo well, other than the obvious?" asked Vincent, asking more for Lucrecia than Gast.

"He was killed before I met him, group of heroes they were, I understand my sister had been among that group for a while," Gast said.

Vincent noticed Lucrecia avoided the question entirely, but he had his answer. Sephiroth existed so what happened with Lucrecia and Hojo must have still happened.

"Yes, she was, but by then she had left us," Vincent said.

"You were there?" asked Lucrecia.

"I was in that group of heroes as well," Vincent said. "I was present when she was killed. Though I did appear quite late in the game so to speak."

"What amazing luck that I would find the last remaining person of that group here of all places," Gast said.

"The last?" asked Vincent.

Gast's expression turned to sadness, "You don't know what became of your friends?"

Vincent made no response.

"The Geostigma took them all before a cure could be found," Gast said.

"A cure which you developed," Lucrecia added.

"Far too late," Gast muttered.

"All of them?" asked Vincent.

"A great loss," Gast said, "they returned to the Lifestream to be reunited with my sister it seemed. Though nobody has any idea there is a survivor."

Vincent knew if Vincent Valentine was still in the Turks then there was no way he was part of the group in this existence.

"I'd rather it stayed that way," Vincent said.

"Of course," Gast said, "I've no reason to tell anyone."

Vincent nodded.

"I'll watch the boat," Lucrecia said, "you two should go below deck you've been waiting years for someone who knew something about your sister Professor."

Gast nodded and made his way below deck followed by Vincent who gave a last look back to the Lucrecia that had no idea who he was.

Gast sat at a small table and Vincent sat across from the Professor.

"Before you start," Gast swallowed hard forcing himself to speak, "Aeris…was she…beautiful? I don't mean in your opinion, I mean like, you know, in a general sense of the word was she…"

"Yes," Vincent cut him off, "she was."

Gast nodded, "Did she ever…get married, fall in love?"

"Once she said she liked a SOLDIER by the name of Zack," Vincent said, "and I have a suspicion she had feelings for another ex-SOLDIER who was in our group…"

"Cloud?" asked Gast. "Really, I'd never heard that."

"It was more inferred," Vincent said.

"Tifa and Cloud, though…"

"I don't know anything for sure, back then we had been busier with other tasks," Vincent said.

"Oh, yes, well, of course you were," Gast said dismissively.

"Although," Vincent continued, "if I had to make an estimate…Cloud felt the same as I assume Aeris did. As I say, there was never any proof to the contrary."

"I can see why she would pick him," Gast said smiling sadly and looking down to the table. "When we were young we would always play this game, I remember it well. She was an innocent bystander being attacked by monsters and I would be the SOLDIER who came to her rescue. Then after I saved her we would go on adventures and she would always refer to me as her bodyguard."

Vincent nodded, seemed she had never stopped using the bodyguard angle.

Gast laughed, "I'd always ask 'what's in it for me?' and she'd pretend to think for a while and say 'I'll go out with you once.' Then I remember I'd say something like 'we can't go out stupid, we're brother and sister' and then she'd get mad at me because I wasn't still playing that make believe SOLDIER. I was no fun when I was just her brother."

Vincent wondered if that was something like how it had been when she had met Cloud. He wouldn't have been surprised.

"It sounds like you were close," Vincent said.

Gast nodded, "For far too short a time, I never really knew her…not well enough."

"I know what you mean," Vincent said.

Gast looked to him, it was here that Vincent told him about when he had joined the group and just about everything he knew about Aeris before she died.

"I only knew Aeris for quite a short time," Vincent said after he finished telling her story, "it wasn't long after I joined them that she was taken from us."

Gast looked as if he was about to say something but instead burst out in tears, which he quickly contained, "I'm sorry, I think you've said all I can hear."

Vincent wondered what exactly it was like to care for someone that much, he couldn't remember a time when he ever actually cried for Lucrecia. Maybe because he had never really lost her in the literal sense, not like Gast had lost Aeris.

Vincent wanted to say more but wasn't sure what to say, he looked at Gast, "She was a very…good person, amusing at times, and she had my respect whatever that may be worth."

"Worth millions to me," Gast said still struggling to speak, "thank you."

Vincent nodded.

Gast stood up quickly and wiped his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"_Lucrecia, full speed, let's get this man to his destination!_" Gast yelled up to her.

"_You got it!_" Lucrecia replied.

"Let's go above deck, we'll be there shortly," Gast said and Vincent followed him.

The three stood and watched as land got closer and closer.

"We're headed directly to Midgar, are you going there?" asked Lucrecia.

Vincent shook his head, "I'm looking for someone in particular I'll keep walking until I find him."

Vincent was of course referring to his companions and the black building; he also realized he was going to have to figure out where he was. Mostly because of what he saw ahead: Midgar, completely intact, exactly as it wasn't supposed to be.

Vincent was in a different existence which only meant one thing: the black building was creating much greater paradoxes back in his own time.

"Professor," Vincent said, "what do you know about time travel?"

Gast turned to Vincent, "We've been working on something particularly in that field. Shinra has started construction of a laboratory to start studies and tests. Why do you ask?"

"I've heard that Ancients are experts of time travel," Vincent said.

Gast laughed, "I'm afraid as far as a genuine Ancient the only thing I've got is the blood to prove it. As far as knowledge I'm lacking."

"Do you think I might be able to see this construction, I've sort of always had an interest in time travel," Vincent lied.

"Professor Hojo is in charge of the time travel field of science within Shinra, but I'm sure I can get you in. I hold more credibility with the new President than he does."

"Hojo?" asked Vincent.

Gast nodded, "Not _the_, of course, his son."

"Hojo had a son," Vincent muttered shaking his head.

"Other than Sephiroth, yes, I know, seems kind of unlikely to me as well, but it happened," Gast said smiling.

"Is he like his father?" asked Vincent.

"No, not at all actually," Gast said, "his name is the only relation to that madman. He knew my family and his father had a troubled relationship in the past so we work together a lot, his way of trying to bridge the gap."

"Is it working?" asked Vincent.

"We've made more progress in science than most scientists ever have in their lives," Gast said, "though our areas of research are usually very different. In an effort to distance himself from his father he has stayed away from any studies involving the Ancients."

"I've been away from civilization for far too long it seems," Vincent lied.

"I guess so," Gast said, "why don't I get you up to speed while I show you around the Time/Space Research Lab?"

Vincent nodded; he needed to know as much as he possibly could about where he was. He realized he was in the existence where the black building was being created so in turn this place could also very well be the key to destroying the building in his time.

"Professor, look!" Lucrecia said urgently pointing toward Midgar. Fires sprung up all over the city and airships began appearing all around.

"Midgar is under attack," Gast said in a confused tone, "that doesn't make any sense."

"What's going on?" asked Lucrecia.

"Shinra doesn't have any enemies," Gast said, "hurry, we have to get over there dock the boat now!"

Vincent drew his revolver, "It looks like you might need some help."

"No better help available I'm sure," Lucrecia said and Vincent looked to her trying to see if that was a sarcastic comment or a genuine compliment.

"Agreed, let's go," Gast said.

The boat came to a sudden halt that almost threw Vincent off his feet, Lucrecia reached down quickly into a crate and pulled up two .45 caliber pistols and tossed one to Gast. Then she moved to the middle of the deck and opened up the floor pulling out two medium sized shotguns.

"You have this boat…well equipped," Vincent said slowly.

Gast smiled, "Scientist can never be too careful, one day something like this might happen."

"Just didn't expect so many guns I suppose," Vincent said.

"They're easier to use than swords," Gast said shrugging.

Vincent could agree with that.

"Besides," Gast said, "swords are so overrated, I'd give you the odds of a gun winning over a sword, but you don't look like the type to care all that much about odds."

Without waiting for a response they jumped off the boat and Vincent followed them. Seeing Lucrecia with a holstered pistol and a shotgun was very strange, but he did keep in mind this was a different existence than the one he knew.

Vincent wasn't sure how time ran here in comparison to his world, but he knew the Ancient Black was still coming and his friends would need all the help they could get.

Time was still against him.


	11. The Outcasts

**Chapter 10**

**The Outcasts**

The Forgotten City was slowly being eaten away, water, earth and even the air itself was disintegrating. In the middle of it, standing on the altar, was a single man who seemed not to notice that the world was falling apart around him. As a piece of the ground disappeared inches from his feet it appeared he either hadn't noticed or didn't care.

His jet black hair fell just below his shoulders and his identical black eyes looked out over the water, looking for something.

He wore a long black overcoat that concealed inside a myriad of different blades, most were throwing daggers but two, one sheathed on each hip, were clearly swords. Completely straight blades, as thin as the Masamune but not nearly as oversized, everything else about the man was as dark as his clothing. Though his skin was white and a square belt buckle shone brightly silver, he was most definitely very dark. His expression and overall demeanour added to just how dark he seemed…which was fitting, because even the man himself didn't entirely consider himself a warm and inviting soul.

Another piece of the altar disappeared to nothingness and still the dark man remained indifferent.

Finally, what he had been waiting for came out of the water.

Sephiroth shot out of the water, Masamune Blade in hand, obviously prepared to fight Cloud and his allies. Instead he found only the single dark-clad man staring back at him. Sephiroth noted how the city was decaying but ignored it as he landed on the altar.

"I was wondering when you were going to be finished swimming," the dark man said gruffly, though the comment sounded amiable enough it seemed nothing could come from the man's mouth in any way friendly.

"Who are you?" asked Sephiroth.

"Well, my story's a little less complicated than yours, let's just say you and I have same but different goals," the dark man said, "my name is Feardorcha."

Sephiroth made no response.

"I know what you're thinking," Feardorcha said, "_I thought I had a long and hard to remember name_."

Again, nothing from Sephiroth.

"For future reference most people just call me Fear," the dark man said, "catchy, no?"

"What do you want?" asked Sephiroth.

"_You_ actually, I've come to recruit you," Fear said, "my kind aren't too fond of you in particular, but with the Black Materia, which I can get for you, I can see your worth."

"Mother serves no one," Sephiroth replied. "She will rule this planet."

Fear crossed his arms, "Is that a no?"

"You will serve _me_ once mother and I rule this planet," Sephiroth said.

"This planet," Fear said, "well, I'm afraid you set your sights far too low for me."

Sephiroth looked confused by the comment.

"I don't just want this planet…in fact this planet isn't going to exist for much longer," Fear continued, "no, I want the entire universe, and every universe that exists within existence itself."

"Impossible," Sephiroth replied.

"Oh, you old-fashioned bad guys," Fear said shaking his head, "you all think the world will revolve around you. Once you realize that you can revolve around the world, then you get the real power. You think injuring a planet and taking its energy is a master plan? That's small fish, my friend; I want every planet that ever existed in any dimension."

"If this is possible, then mother and I will find a way to do so," Sephiroth said.

"I already have, Jenova is a dull weapon, join me and you'll get everything you really want," Fear said, "but hurry because the world _is_ coming to an end."

"Mother serves no one," Sephiroth said again.

"Very well," Fear said and then looked off to his left, "no luck, kill him for what he did to our fellow Cetra and let's get out of here before we're swallowed by the paradox."

Behind Sephiroth another person in dark clothing appeared literally from nowhere, this one was female. She had the same dark eyes and had long black hair that ran down to the middle of her back. The woman wore almost identical clothing to Fear as well. She held a sword that looked to be similar to the dual weapons Fear had sheathed, except she only carried one where he had two.

"Quickly Charna, we have less than forty seconds before this entire place is no more," Fear said.

Sephiroth had time to look over his shoulder before Charna drove her sword into his back and impaled him, the blade sticking well out of his chest.

The attractive woman put her mouth close to Sephiroth's ear, "Hurts, doesn't it?"

"Taste of your own medicine, my friend, maybe in other worlds you won't be such a _backstabber,_" Fear said, "I think if I wasn't a Cetra and then an ex-guardian my calling definitely would have been in stand-up comedy."

Charna withdrew her sword and let Sephiroth fall unceremoniously to the ground, "Revenge is so much more fun when you get to do it twice."

Fear smiled, "You know eventually we're not going to have to visit different existences and then you can't keep getting payback for his killing the last of our kind."

"We may not be accepted with the other Cetra, but she was our sister," Charna growled. "I can't believe you'd try and get this bastard on our side."

Fear looked around and saw the world was on the very edge of destruction.

"Can we talk about this later, dear, the world is about to end," Fear said grinning.

"I've still got ten seconds, let me stab him one more time," Charna replied.

Fear shrugged, "Well, make it quick, you know I can't live without you."

"You'd live," Charna said as Fear disappeared from sight.

She drove her sword one last time straight into Sephiroth's back before disappearing herself. Not more than a second later what was left of the Forgotten City and the rest of the world in that existence ceased to exist.

§

Cloud felt like he was falling again, like he had been when he and Aeris had first been brought to the past. Then the wind was knocked out of him as he smashed to the ground.

He was on his back looking up at a blue sky, he could tell he was on grass and the sun was shining in his eyes. It was warm and Cloud thought he might be able to fall asleep, whether that was for lack of oxygen or how relaxed he was, he wasn't sure.

"I'm in paradise," Cloud muttered to himself attempting to stand up.

"Not quite, buddy," said the voice of Samael from somewhere.

Cloud wasn't sure of where the man was until Sam grabbed Cloud's hand and helped him to his feet. As soon as Cloud was on his feet Sam grabbed his right arm and growled in what appeared to be pain.

"You okay?" asked Cloud.

"Could be worse," Sam growled with a strained voice, "last time I pulled something like this the pain was in a worse place than my arm if you know what I mean."

"How did you get us out?" asked Cloud.

"I found a loophole, albeit an inconvenient one," Sam said, "whoever was keeping us stuck in the past loosened up long enough for me to get us through. Hell of a ride for me though, you okay?"

"Yeah, the landing hurt a bit, but otherwise fine," Cloud replied looking around, "where's Aeris?"

"I traded her to some homeless guy for a potion, my arm was hurting a lot more a while ago," Sam replied.

Cloud, naturally, didn't believe him.

Sam gave up the joke quickly as usual, "She's still unconscious. Being a Cetra like myself she was affected by the travel. I took the brunt of it but it probably still shook her up."

"Why didn't it affect me?" asked Cloud.

"You aren't Cetra, you were shielded by us," Sam said. "Let's face it, the two most important people here are you and Aeris. I took as much of it for Aeris as I could and she took as much of it as she could for you."

"My shields get the burden, great," Cloud muttered.

"Don't worry, it'll all wear off soon enough," Sam said waving his good arm dismissively. "If I had died, then you should feel guilty."

Cloud just nodded and waked over to where Aeris was sleeping. She was on her back and looked as if she had landed and a crew had come by to set her up like an ornament. Her hands were placed perfectly around the middle of her chest and her legs were positioned together and straight out.

"I know what you're thinking," Sam said coming up behind Cloud, "how the hell does she land like that?"

"Yeah," Cloud muttered.

"No," Sam said smiling and patting Cloud on the shoulder, "that's not what you were thinking, was it?"

Cloud looked back at him and Sam winked, "Any man in his right mind would think the same thing, I know."

Cloud just looked at him.

"How _does_ she keep her teeth _that_ shiny and white, I know, I'll just say what we're all thinking," Sam said smiling, "does she have some kind of special dental stuff, it's really amazing you know?"

"You're an idiot," Cloud stated.

"You'd be surprised how much I hear that," Sam said, "anyways, don't worry, she's all yours. I hit on her all the time but she's not my type."

"Are we still talking about her teeth?" asked Cloud.

"My friend, were we ever _really_ talking about her teeth?" asked Sam almost wisely and then walked off toward a large boulder.

"No, I guess not," Cloud murmured.

Sam jumped atop the large boulder and winced as he put too much pressure on his bad arm. He got to a comfortable sitting position and looked off into the distance.

He rubbed his arm and looked around, "Now, Sammy-boy, where the hell did you take us?"

There were green fields as far as he could see until it all came to a halt at the water. Sam could make out a beach that made the barrier between land and sparkling water.

"Well, at least we're in the same general existence," Sam muttered.

Miles away from Sam's boulder sat Costa Del Sol.

Sam jumped down from that boulder and walked back to Cloud.

"Well, I have a general idea of where we are at least," Sam told Cloud who was still standing at Aeris' side.

"Where's that?" asked Cloud.

"Thankfully in a parallel existence to the one you know," Sam pointed over his shoulder behind him, "this way to Costa Del Sol."

Cloud nodded.

"I was hoping we wouldn't end up in an entirely different existence," Sam said, "I know some people in other dimensions but then it just gets really complicated."

"I imagine it would, seeing as I wouldn't exist there," Cloud replied.

"Not just that, the _Cetra_ themselves don't exist there," Sam said.

Cloud just nodded.

"Nice people though mostly, it's a peaceful place now in most cases," Sam said. "No more psycho Sorceresses, I was there for a marriage too. Rinoa and…some guy…like a snowstorm, snow…storm…snow, it starts with a 's.'"

"Squall?" asked Cloud.

"Snow squall…yeah…that was his name, Squall," Sam said, "strong silent type, kind of like you almost, maybe a little more introverted."

"That place have as many problems as we do here?" asked Cloud.

"Sometimes worse, they had a time travel problem too," Sam said.

"Lucky them," Cloud muttered.

"Yeah, some sorceress from the future was messing with them from a machine that wasn't yet created. Then snowstorm and his buddies had to like do this complicated thing with a chick who can go into the past and then bring someone back…then there was something with _time compression_, it was pretty crazy," Sam said shaking his head. "Kind of like what we got going on now, but this is looking to be a bit more complicated."

"Well, we know we're still in a world like our own," Cloud said, "but are we in the one we need to be in to stop what we traveled in time to stop?"

"Add a few more 'stops' and that sentence there would be very confusing," Sam muttered, "as for the being in the time we need to be in…I'm not sure, I'm not sure what the right place looks like. Had none of this happened you would have gone directly there, but now that it's all become such a god damn clusterfuck I'm not sure."

"A clusterwhat?" asked Cloud grinning a bit.

Sam waved his hand dismissively, "Expression from a different world, don't worry about it."

"Guess we need to wait for Aeris' guardian to get back to us," Cloud said.

"If we find out who trapped you in the past we find out who created the building," Sam said, "I don't know if you were intending on fighting the guy who started this but at this point it looks like the only solution."

"Whatever it takes," Cloud said nodding.

"He's obviously quite a powerful dude," Sam said, "probably a Cetra."

"Cetra, what makes you say that?" asked Cloud.

"Someone with as much control and knowledge of time and dimensions as this guy has to be a Cetra," Sam said.

"Why would an Ancient want to do this?" asked Cloud.

"There's something of a legend in Cetra lore, most people don't believe it but I know it to be true…or at least at one point in time it was true," Sam said, "wanna hear my theory?"

"Sure," Cloud said.

"Well, there was this group of Cetra that was created long ago; they were outcasts of the general population of the Cetra because they were much more possessive about their control of the Lifestream. Where other Cetra were more than willing to give up and die, returning to the Lifestream, this group decided they didn't want to give up. They wanted to come back and take the planet for the Cetra again. This group steadily grew in support until they were a veritable small army. They were appropriately christened _The Outcasts_," Sam said.

"Even the Cetra have a dirty little secret," Cloud said.

"Doesn't everybody," Sam said nodding, "in any case, their leader was a very capable and powerful Cetra by the name of Feardorcha. To put it in simple terms he's like an exaggerated Sephiroth. Where good ol' Sephie wanted the planet, Fear wanted the planet and every other planet in every other existence possible. Feardorcha happened to be very adept in the ways of time travel as most Cetra are and took it upon himself and his army of Outcasts to _once again restore the glory of the Cetra_. Even though they are in no way accepted by the Cetra as allies everything the Outcasts did they did in the name of the Cetra. They never did a thing to harm one of their own kind, really they're what you would call…_good bad guys_, so to speak."

"So you think these Outcasts are still around and just started up with their domination of all existences thing?" asked Cloud.

"I've got nothing to back it up, of course, but I'd bet money Fear and his girl are behind this. No way they're dead, and they combined know more than enough about time and dimensions to do this kind of thing without trouble."

"His girl?" asked Cloud.

Sam nodded, "Fear's first loyal follower ever: Charna. Girl's almost as hot as Aeris."

"Is she as intelligent as him?" asked Cloud.

"Well, he might have fallen in love with her for her looks, but she has the same know how of time as he does," Sam said, "they say the two were inseparable as children, but were out of touch when they both became guardians."

"Like Aeris' guardian?" asked Cloud.

"Exactly, both he and Charna were trained in the ways of the guardians of the Cetra, so not only are they smart, but they can fight with the best of them," Sam replied. "In any case, when they got older they found each other again. This was about the time Fear started up the idea of the Outcasts. As I said, Charna was his first volunteer, which was also around the time the two fell in love probably."

"You say they have an army behind them?" asked Cloud.

"Well, if they are still around and assuming they still have their followers, yeah, they have an army something equal to that of Shinra probably now."

"That wouldn't be good for us," Cloud said.

Sam shrugged, "Not really, but I've seen you kick some ass before my friend and I must say I think it would take more than a few of those Outcasts to put you down."

Cloud nodded his appreciation, not expecting the compliment.

"You just look inadequate because you're traveling with two powerful Cetra with flashy magic and stuff," Sam said, "in reality I'm not sure you couldn't kill me."

"Who's gonna kill Sam?" asked Aeris sitting up slowly, Cloud and Sam turned to look at her.

"Welcome back," Sam said.

"You alright?" asked Cloud helping her to her feet.

"Fine," she said smiling to Cloud.

"Just filling Cloud in on the Outcasts," Sam said.

Aeris nodded, "Nasty bunch from what I know, why were you talking about them?"

"Sam thinks it's possible they could be involved in all this," Cloud said.

Aeris shrugged and yawned tiredly, "That's always possible I guess, but those guys haven't shown themselves for hundreds of years."

"Well then," Sam said smiling, "I guess they're overdue."

Suddenly the sound of a rifle being cocked interrupted them and they turned to see four Shinra soldiers aiming rifles at them.

Sam alone could have taken every one of the soldiers out but they all quickly lowered their weapons.

"Are you with Shinra?" asked one looking at Cloud.

Cloud noticed he still had the blue Shinra uniform without the helmet.

"Yeah, I got attacked and lost my gun, these two helped me out," Cloud said.

One of the Shinra men nodded, "Alright, hurry up and get back to your post in Midgar then, word is the city's under attack."

"Under attack by who?" asked Aeris curiously.

"Unknown as of yet, ma'am," said one of the soldiers. "I suggest you and your friend stay as far from Midgar as possible. Catch the boat across the water as soon as you can, soldier."

The four were quickly gone; obviously they were in a hurry and weren't interested enough in Cloud to make sure he followed them.

"Midgar under attack?" asked Cloud.

"Strange," Aeris said.

"Alright, put your money in kids," Sam said smiling.

"What?" asked Cloud.

"Ten Gil it's the Outcasts, who's in?" asked Sam.

Aeris nodded, "You're on, ten Gil it's not them."

"We have a wager my dear lady," Sam said.

"Well, can't lose money if we don't find out," Cloud said removing the Shinra uniform, "Aeris, toss me my sword, let's go see who our new enemy is now."

¬¬¬¬¬

-Hey, hope you enjoyed the new chapter, just wanted to throw in this interesting however pointless note: the name "Feardorcha" is actually Irish in origin and it means "dark man" from the Gaelic words _fear _meaning "man" and _dorcha_ meaning "dark".

-There's something you can impress the In-Laws with…if you aren't married then impress the parents…you know what I'm getting at, anyways, if you're so desperate you need to impress someone with name meanings…might as well make it something cool like _dark man_, you know? Reviews always appreciated, thanks for reading!


	12. Renegade Cetra

**Chapter 11**

**Renegade Cetra**

The boy ran as fast as his legs would allow, the big man in black was close behind. The boy could almost feel the sword slicing and slashing just behind him. He knew if he stopped for even a second he would be within range of the blade. The pursuer wore plain black clothing and carried a big heavy sword that was almost as big as the man himself. He was probably a bit over six foot five and looked about as tough as a boulder. The guy did some serious working out it appeared.

The man was dark skinned like Barret, but he made Barret look really small.

So, naturally, when the boy shot past a figure in crimson that looked to be about the size of the big man's left leg, the boulder of a man figured he could just blow right through the small man.

This wasn't the case however.

Vincent Valentine sidestepped the charging dark-clad man and fired two shots from his revolver. One into each of the behemoth's knees, and for all the muscle and power the man had he, like any person, couldn't operate without his legs. The big man fell to the ground face first.

The little boy hadn't looked back at all, but knew he was somehow clear of danger.

Vincent walked casually over to the fallen huge man and pointed his gun at him.

"Who are you?" asked Vincent.

"Who are you?" asked the big man in a big deep voice that was stereotypically expected from a man of his stature.

"Vincent," he replied, "okay, your turn."

The big man laughed, "Vincent who?"

"My friend," Professor Gast suddenly said coming up beside Vincent aiming his shotgun down at the big man, "I would stop playing games and start talking very soon."

Vincent noticed the deadly wounds to the big man's knees didn't bother him as much as Vincent would have thought.

"_We_ are the Outcasts," the big man said cryptically.

"Well, we have a title, doesn't really clear up who you are but it'll do I guess," Gast muttered.

"Outcasts," Vincent said thoughtfully, "what are you people doing here?"

"You know of us?" asked the big man seeming genuinely surprised.

"More or less," Vincent said, "renegade Cetra."

"_We're_ the real Cetra, the _true_ Cetra, the ones who are not willing to give up the planet to our traitorous cousins," the big man said.

"What does Midgar have that you people want?" asked Gast, still a bit shaken to learn these people were like him, Ancients.

"You people?" asked the big man indignantly.

"Yes, you…Outcasts or whatever," Gast said.

"You speak of us as if you weren't like us," the big man said smiling, "I can sense another Cetra from miles away; you're the last of us."

"I might be an Ancient but I'm not like you," Gast growled, "the Cetra don't attack children for one thing."

"Everyone here will be dead soon enough, it doesn't matter who we attack," the big man replied.

"What are you talking about?" asked Gast.

Vincent knew, "You're behind the black buildings."

The big man smiled, "You're well-informed for someone I've never seen before, how do you know all this?"

"Vincent, what black buildings?" asked Gast.

"It's very complicated, Professor, just let me speak to the Outcast for a moment," Vincent said, "why do you want to destroy time?"

"Destroy time?" asked the big man laughing. "Not so well-informed I guess, we don't want to destroy time, we just need to destroy certain existences so we can _control _time."

"You're Cetra, you can already control time," Vincent said.

"Not entirely, there are restrictions, if we own every existence there is…then there's no restrictions, absolute freedom," the big man said.

"Freedom to do what exactly, what's your ultimate goal, the Ancient Black?" asked Vincent.

"The _Ancient Black_?" asked the big man laughing heartily. "The Ancient Black is more of an inconvenience, no our goal does not involve the Ancient Black."

"So then what does it involve?" asked Vincent.

"You are from Centre Time; you will be of the few to survive long enough to know unlike most worlds," the big man said, "it's far too early for me to tell you such things."

"Centre Time?" asked Vincent shaking his head.

"The Centre of the Star," the big man said smiling, "I'm afraid I'm not permitted to sit around and explain Outcast theories with strangers. The only reason I've stayed as long as I have is because there's something I need here."

"Something you need," Gast said, "the reason you came to Midgar?"

"Well, the Outcasts require two things from this world, and we assumed Midgar would have them both," the big man said smiling. "We were partly correct about one at least."

"Which is?" asked Vincent.

"We need the last surviving Ancient, and as we are unable to resurrect Aeris, we had to find an existence where her brother existed," the big man said smiling and waving his big hands over his knees. Obviously it had been some kind of restoration spell because his knees were back in perfect condition. "Now you have to come with us Professor."

Vincent wasn't entirely clear on what exactly was happening, he had never been very clear since the beginning, but he knew he now had a direction: he had to stop the Outcasts from getting what they wanted from this time.

"I'm afraid I can't let him go quite that easy," Vincent said aiming his gun at the big man.

"I knew you were going to say that," the big man said and waved his left hand, some sort of signal.

Immediately, two more dark clad figures appeared from nowhere.

One was a long haired blonde female in a long black coat; she carried two pistols that appeared to have long clips coming out of the bottom of the grip. This told Vincent that the guns carried a lot of ammunition, they were probably automatics.

The second was a bald man that appeared to be unarmed; he wore similar black clothing to the big man to his right.

The woman turned to the big man, "Who do we kill and who do we capture, Conall?"

The big man nodded to Gast, "He's the only one left alive."

The woman aimed her guns and Vincent immediately jumped behind Gast, nobody…including Gast…was expecting this move and the female Outcast hesitated, she hesitated for the last time in her life as Vincent aimed his revolver over Gast's shoulder and fired. The heavy round was a direct hit to her head and it sent the Outcast flying head over heels leaving her entire head in one bloody mess that, thankfully, had been blown too far away for them to see.

"Kill him!" Conall bellowed, obviously angry now.

Vincent had intended on continuing to use Gast as a shield, but suddenly Gast sailed off to the left. The Professor's feet were suddenly off the ground and he was sailing away against his will.

"What the…?" Gast said.

Vincent was out in the open, he noticed the bald man had a raised hand aimed at where Gast was.

"Telekinesis," Vincent muttered.

"I can't move," Gast growled.

"You won't have too much trouble multitasking I hope," the big man growled, the bald man nodded and raised his other hand to Vincent.

Vincent attempted to find some way to avoid what he knew was coming but couldn't.

"It's almost impossible to evade a power like his, I'm afraid," said Conall smiling. "Do something creative with him."

The bald man then started to close his hand into a fist; Vincent felt his whole body being crushed accordingly. The bald man was using his telekinesis to literally crush Vincent into himself. For about five seconds Vincent was helpless to do anything, but then the bald man stopped, his hand appeared to be stuck half way to a fist.

"What's wrong?" asked Conall.

"There's…something else," the bald man said.

"What?" asked Conall.

"Inside him, if I go any further…he will kill us all," the bald man said.

Vincent's red eyes glared into them.

"So then I suggest you put him down!" yelled Lucrecia as her shotgun blew the bald man away from behind successfully releasing Vincent and Gast.

Conall raised his huge sword to attack Lucrecia but she managed to fire another shot with her shotgun, knocking the big man backward. He, however, stayed on his feet.

"It's going to take more than that for me, my dear," Conall growled and swung his sword again effectively chopping Lucrecia's shotgun in half and sending her tumbling backward. Conall raised his sword to finish her off, but in the process entirely forgot about Vincent and Gast. Vincent suddenly appeared in front of the fallen Lucrecia and used his golden clawed hand to block the sword. The power of the sword made his arm buckle a bit but the armoured arm did its job and the big man was forced to take another swing.

As Conall attempted his second swing with the sword Gast jumped in and fired his shotgun, unlike Lucrecia he aimed for a part of the man he knew was vulnerable. The shot blew out the big man's right knee.

"Again with the legs!" Conall growled lashing out with the sword angrily, and might have hit Gast had Lucrecia's .45 caliber pistol not started firing and effectively blew out the big man's other knee.

Conall dropped his sword and fell on his back with a growl of pain. He then quickly sat up and attempted to use his hands to heal his knees again but Vincent was there. He grabbed the big man's left hand and used Conall's own huge sword to stake it to the ground. The huge blade went easily through the big man's hand and into the ground.

Again, the big man's register of what should have been pain was understated with what seemed to be a bit of a wince, this one had some serious pain tolerance.

Though, Vincent wasn't quite done yet, the man still had one workable hand still.

Vincent stepped down hard with his boot on the big man's last good hand.

"Now," Vincent said holstering his revolver, "why don't you continue with what you were saying about Centre Time?"

Behind Vincent, Gast smiled to Lucrecia, "He's funny in a crazy and sadistic sort of way."

"I saw him using you as a human shield," Lucrecia said looking at Gast.

Gast laughed, "You're always so sensitive of things, my dear, don't jump to conclusions. There was a perfectly good reason; these people wanted me alive, Vincent, obviously knowing they wouldn't kill me, used it against them. What do you have against our new friend?"

"Nothing," Lucrecia said holstering her pistol.

"You're lying, but I'll forgive you, because I'm an Ancient and that's what we do," Gast said smiling to her and walking over to Vincent letting the conversation die there.

"You won't get anything from me," the big man growled to Vincent.

"You were pretty eager to tell me about the Outcast plans before," Vincent stated.

"That was all you needed to know," Conall said.

"You don't know what Centre Time is, do you?" asked Vincent.

"Of course I do," Conall replied.

"No, you don't, you've heard the word from your boss and then you start throwing it around pretending like you know what's going on," Vincent said, "you're of no use to me."

Vincent drew his revolver, "Not appreciative of your two friends trying to kill me either."

Vincent aimed his gun at the big man's head.

"Wait, wait, I can help you, I know things, things of use to you!" Conall cried.

"No you don't," Vincent said with an ominous finality.

Vincent's gun went off mercilessly and the bullet tore away any recognizable feature of the Outcast's face leaving only a gruesome mass of blood.

Vincent looked over his shoulder and saw Gast, not with the expression he expected to see. Vincent expected Gast to be horrified, or at least sickened by the sight.

Instead the Professor seemed very calm, "I'd say something Cetra like, 'he has returned to the Lifestream' but I'm not entirely sure if that's where people like him go."

"I doubt there's any other place for him," Vincent said holstering his revolver.

"You're sure he didn't know anything?" asked Gast.

"No," Vincent said walking away.

"You seemed pretty sure," Gast said following him.

"No, I said 'you're of no use to me' which doesn't necessarily mean he didn't know anything," Vincent said matter-of-factly.

"Yes, of course, silly me for creating a correlation between the two," Gast said sarcastically.

"I assume you would have some questions for me," Vincent said.

Gast shook his head, "I'm a Cetra, I live and breathe mystery and not knowing things…that's why I became a scientist like my father, to figure things out."

"I have some mysteries of my own I've yet to answer as well," Vincent said.

"You're searching for answers out here too?" asked Gast.

Vincent shook his head, "I never search for answers, Professor, because they'll never be anything I want to hear."

"What is it you would like to hear exactly?" asked Gast.

"I don't know," Vincent said, "that's how I know they won't be anything I want to hear."

"Pardon me for assuming here, but you're a very lonely person by nature aren't you?" asked Gast.

Vincent responded with silence.

"It doesn't work, you know, the lone wolf forever thing. It'll only ever lead to more being alone."

"You're just like your sister," Vincent said.

Gast smiled, "I guess it's a Cetra thing."

"No doubt," Vincent muttered.

"Guys, we gotta get inside Midgar!" Lucrecia exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" asked Gast.

"I heard from some soldiers that the attackers are headed toward the President," Lucrecia said.

"The labs," Gast said worriedly.

"They could destroy all the files and everything we've been working on," Lucrecia said.

"I have to get inside Midgar," Gast said urgently.

Vincent nodded, "I'll come along I need to know more about these Outcasts and what they're planning."

"Maybe we'll all find some answers we don't want to hear before today is done," Gast said to Vincent.

Vincent was silent.

"How the hell are we gonna get back in, the place is obviously locked down," Lucrecia said.

"There's gotta be some way in," Gast said.

"They won't open any doors, even for us scientists," Lucrecia said shaking her head, "we're stuck out here."

Vincent looked up to the sky and immediately saw their way in.

"I have an idea," Vincent stated.

The two scientists turned to look at him and he pointed up, above them hovered an airship that seemed to be waiting for something. At one time Vincent was sure it had been firing projectiles inside Midgar to soften the defenses, but now it was silent.

"How do you suggest we get up there?" asked Lucrecia.

"He's not," Gast said, "he's suggesting he brings that down to us."

Vincent nodded, "I could get inside Midgar right now, I could vault the wall, but I couldn't bring you two with me. I can use that same idea to board the airship and bring it down so you can get on."

"Then you fly us into Midgar," Gast said, "you think you can clear the ship? It must be guarded of course."

"I've fought worse battles," Vincent replied.

"Of course you have, I almost forgot who I was talking to, Vincent Valentine, the man who traveled with my sister," Gast said, "I should be asking if there's any ship you _can't _clear."

Vincent checked that his gun was securely holstered so that it wouldn't accidentally fall out when he jumped through the air.

Vincent looked up to the ship and prepared to make his move, he could use the large wall they used to protect Midgar from the outside. His plan was to gain enough momentum from his jump to the wall to push off from the wall and, if all went as planned, he would end up on the ship. Then all he would have to worry about was the enemies inside.

"Be careful," Lucrecia said to him quietly.

Vincent looked at her momentarily and then looked back up at the ship, "I'll be back with our ride shortly."


	13. The Way In

**Chapter 12**

**The Way In**

Feardorcha stood quietly on the bridge of his airship, the vessel was a mixture of different components collected from many different worlds. The ship was considerably thin but quite long and almost looked a bit awkward. The thing had no trouble flying, however, with the combined technologies on board the airship could travel faster than any ship in existence…or at least in any existence the Outcasts had been to. The ship could also camouflage completely to its surroundings making it completely invisible to both the naked eye and any sensor device.

In its normal form when not camouflaged, the ship, which Fear named the _Cetra Resurrection_, was a dark red colour modeled mostly after an airship he had seen in another world and had particularly liked the look of it. It had been called the _Ragnarok_. Fear had taken parts from that ship to make the _Cetra Resurrection_, but parts not nearly as advanced as others he had installed.

As far as weaponry the _Resurrection_ was second to none, it was completely covered with a myriad of hidden weapons including a powerful weapon called an _Eelectro Magnetic Pulse_ gun that could knock all systems of an opposing ship offline. Fear used the weapon's friendly acronym: "EMP gun."

Fear was alone on the bridge, his entire crew, which was small for now, was down on the planet looking for an item they required. The _Cetra Resurrection_ floated completely invisible in space, just outside the atmosphere of the planet. His ship could pass freely between planets and space, and even through time. Wherever Fear went, his airship was never far behind. The ship would also end up being the key to his plan if all worked out as expected.

The Outcast turned from the large window that gave him a full view of everything in front of the ship and walked slowly toward the very back where the control console sat. Generally Fear had others pilot his ship, but he had learned to control the ship in case he was alone like he was now. Every function of the ship could be controlled from the single large control panel which seemed, to the untrained eye, a huge mess of levers, buttons and other gadgets necessary.

Fear hit a series of buttons and a voice came through a speaker somewhere in front of him.

"Charna," the female voice said.

"How far long are you?" asked Fear.

"Don't be so impatient," Charna replied through the communicator.

"Charna," Fear said in a voice that sounded like a warning.

"Give me five minutes and we'll have it, calm down," Charna said dismissively.

"You realize if you don't get that item…" Fear said.

Charna cut him off, "I realize that if you keep talking it will take me longer to get the said item."

"Just hurry…" Fear said.

"I know, you can't live without me," Charna replied, he was sure she was smiling but couldn't see her.

"I'd live," Fear replied.

The line was cut and Fear walked away from the control console.

He had two groups out looking for their respective items.

Conall was to retrieve Aeris' brother and the White Materia.

Charna was to retrieve the Black Materia.

In comparison he knew Conall's task was harder, and Fear knew Charna was much better than Conall. He knew the only reason he sent Charna on the easier task was because he could live with Conall dying, but not Charna, she would be a great loss. Not to the Outcasts entirely, there were others with her skill, but to him personally. He really couldn't live without her.

"Feardorcha, can you hear me?" asked a voice between crackles of interference.

Fear went back to the console and saw someone was sending him a message.

"Who is it?" asked Fear.

"This is Corta," replied the voice with a little less interference, it was easier to make out the woman's voice now.

"Do you have the White Materia?" asked Fear.

"We've run into some…problems," Corta replied.

"Like what?" asked Fear.

"Conall, Jarian and Max are dead," Corta replied.

Fear was silent for a long moment and then talked again almost in a whisper, "What?"

"All three, sir, dead," Corta said, "without our telekinetic and our commanding officer our work is going to be much slower than planned and we are facing heavy resistance from Shinra."

"You are the commanding officer now, Corta," Fear said trying to somehow save the situation. "We can retrieve the Cetra at a later date, we must have the White Materia now or all is lost, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir, I will retrieve that Materia," Corta said loyally.

"I know, now get to it, as soon as you have it get everyone out of that world," Fear said.

"Yes, sir, Corta out."

The line was cut only for Fear to receive another communication.

"Fear, I have a present for you," said the voice of his beloved Charna.

Fear smiled; suddenly Conall's devastating failure was not so pressing…this for no other reason was why he needed Charna so much.

"Is it my favourite colour?" asked Fear.

"Sorry, no, but it is your favourite shade," she replied.

"Oh, yes, of course, we both know my favourite colour is the colour of that tattoo of yours," Fear said grinning; she hated it when he mentioned the tattoo.

"Let me back on the ship so I can kill you," Charna replied.

"Maybe you'd like to tell everyone where exactly that tattoo is?" asked Fear.

"Any further and I'll float up there to kill you, I swear to…"

"Stand still, let me get a lock on you," Fear said as he used another series of buttons on the control console to get a target lock on Charna and her group, he counted them. Ten Outcasts including Charna, the exact same number Fear had sent…no losses.

He hit a final button and suddenly the group of Outcasts appeared on the bridge in front of him. The Outcasts couldn't use their Cetra abilities to teleport from land to space. This barrier was created so novice Cetra wouldn't accidentally transport themselves out into space and then, inevitably, die. It had happened before.

Standing beside Charna was the only other person he couldn't live without: his brother Garen. Fear's brother, like the bald-headed Max, was a telekinetic. Now that Max was dead Garen was the Outcasts' last telekinesis user.

Fear's brother was a bit younger than Fear himself and was a bit shorter, as far as looks they almost could have been twins but some differences set them apart. Both brothers wore identical black clothing including the coats and the same identical silver belt buckle. Garen's hair was shorter and neater than Fear's own, but it was the same jet black.

The only other thing that set them apart was their personalities, Garen, unlike his brother, was usually a very happy and easy to get along with kind of guy. Garen had saved many an Outcast from death by Fear's hand because of his ability to calm his brother down. He and Charna were the only two people who could affect how Feardorcha thought and acted; if anyone else tried such a thing he would probably kill them.

"Your girl was a bit slow today, I had to back off to let her keep up but otherwise it went alright," Garen said smiling using his ability to make the Black Materia float from Charna's hands.

She tried to grab it back but Garen floated it out of range.

"What's wrong haven't you learned to jump? Your fighting could use some work, but I think your legs work fine," Garen said laughing, "along with your other body parts as I'm sure my brother is aware, no?"

Charna glared back at him and the other nameless Outcasts chuckled with Garen.

Fear's brother let the Black Materia float back down into Charna's hands.

"I have to be nice to you because you're sleeping with my brother," Garen said patting her on the shoulder, "but if you two break up you realize you and I probably won't get along."

Charna smiled, "Not if you're dead, no."

Garen imitated her sadistic smile, "This is what you look like when you threaten people, it still doesn't work."

"Okay," Fear said, knowing the two of them always went on like this after completing a mission. In reality the two got along just fine, but they enjoyed their little quarrels like this sometimes. "One of you put the Materia in the Star Room, the rest of you go to your posts."

One nameless Outcast took the Materia from Charna and nodded to her respectfully before leaving, the others dispersed.

"So, this tattoo…" Garen began.

"Garen," Fear said waving a hand before his brother could start more trouble with Charna. "I have some bad news I'm afraid."

Garen and Charna immediately forgot about their quarrel and looked to Fear with faces of stone.

"Conall?" asked Garen.

"He's dead," Fear said.

"What the hell happened?" asked Garen.

"I don't have all the details, but Max and…"

"Feardorcha…do you read, sir? This is Conall's transport airship, do you read?" interrupted a voice from the control console.

"Hold on," Fear said irritably and answered the call. "This is Fear, what is it?"

"Sir, this is Conall's transport ship, our sensors have picked up a foreign object landing on our lower outdoor platform," the man said, "I think we're being boarded sir."

"_Boarded_!" growled Fear about ready to break something with all that was going wrong. "Boarded by who?"

§

Vincent Valentine stood on the lower outdoor platform of the airship. He looked around and saw the vessel was constructed similarly to the Highwind. Though he noticed it might have a few more decks than Cid's vessel, judging by the size of the ship.

It didn't matter how big it was or how many enemies fit inside, nothing was stopping Vincent from getting to the bridge.

He drew his revolver and headed for the only single door in front of him.

Suddenly, the door burst open and three men in dark clothing stepped out onto the platform. All three wielded swords varying in shape and size.

Vincent raised his gun and fired three times, one hit. The man in the middle was blown off his feet and back through the door, direct shot, square to the chest. The other two men quickly deflected the rounds and moved at Vincent with great speed.

Vincent jumped back avoiding a single vertical slice of one man's sword as the other chopped across horizontally also missing Vincent slightly.

A gold claw drove itself into the left-hand enemy's back, the man cried out in pain and Vincent used the hold he had on the man to swing him around and send him flying over the railing and off the platform.

Vincent didn't stop spinning however, and for good reason, he knew the last man was already attacking and as Vincent spun he jumped dexterously up in the air and centimeters over his enemy's horizontal slash. Vincent hit the ground and rolled to his feet, turning in a flash and firing his gun. The man had no chance of getting his sword back and took the round directly in his right side. The powerful projectile shattered rib bones and organs alike until it passed out through the other side and the man fell dead to the ground.

"Finally," Vincent muttered thinking of the Shadows, "fighting enemies I can actually kill."

He turned purposefully and entered into the ship, he saw the third man lying on the floor. His body had slid a few more feet down a hallway when he had hit the ground. The hallway was a dull grey and very nondescript, which made the big orange sign at the end of the hall even more convenient to read.

The sign read: _"Elevator accessible to decks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, deck 6 (bridge) requires certified access code."_

"Access code," Vincent muttered.

He walked over to the elevator and was about to hit the call button when the doors made a chiming sound and opened to reveal two men with heavy looking rifles.

Vincent looked at the two menacing men for a moment, "Going up, or down?"

The two men looked at each other for a moment then raised their rifles and started firing full auto.

Vincent jumped back into a miraculous flip that only barely saved him from the bullets. As he landed he ran, swerving left and right, knowing doing so would only throw off the aim of the two men for a second at best. It was hard to miss with such powerful weapons.

Lucky for Vincent, escape found him.

Vincent jumped to the left in a last ditch effort to avoid the men's aim and instead of hitting a wall he instead blew through a doorway and into another room. Vincent caught himself before he fell and quickly threw the door shut and locked it from the inside.

He looked around the room and found it was a dead end.

"Secret door leading to a dead end," Vincent murmured, "this means there's another secret door."

At least he hoped that was the case, the men had started banging on the door and yelling in at him.

Vincent shot around the room knocking on the walls to see if they sounded hollow, none were. He tried some of the old tricks, pulling a book out of place to activate a door, secret levers. Nothing happened; the room remained the same old dead end. Then bullets started ripping through the door.

Vincent looked around, hoping to see some kind of ventilation system or hole he'd missed as a way out, he found nothing.

The bullets continued to tear away at the integrity of the door, soon there wouldn't be a door left to block the men out.

"Fine," Vincent growled, "I'll make my own secret door!"

Vincent spun to the only bare wall in the room and quickly emptied his revolver into it. Thankfully, the inner walls weren't heavily armoured and Vincent's bullets easily pierced through them.

The men outside stopped firing, they were forced to reload giving Vincent more time.

Vincent reloaded his own gun within a period of less than a second and started firing again until the shots became a hole in the wall big enough for him to crawl through. Vincent did so quickly and disappeared from the room.

Soon after the barrage of bullets finally brought down the door, the two men appeared in the empty room. One quickly noticed the hole in the wall and was about to warn his partner when Vincent began firing back through the hole.

Both men were blown away by Vincent's gun before either of them knew where he was attacking from. Vincent then turned and explored the new area he had entered.

Vincent was in a relatively small room with grey walls, it had no furniture like the previous room and no colour at all. The only thing the room did have was a ladder heading straight upward and another orange sign beside it which read: _"Alternate deck access, ladder accessible to all decks."_

"Bypass the security," Vincent said, "no wonder this place is so hard to find."

As he looked around the room he still saw no other simpler way in, he assumed ship officials carried something on them that could break the wall should they need to use the ladder in an emergency.

Vincent climbed the ladder; every new deck had an orange sign announcing which deck he had reached and a square hole in the wall big enough for someone to crawl through.

Vincent went by the deck two orange sign, deck three and four. When he reached the deck five sign he looked up and saw the deck six sign ahead.

Something else caught his eye; someone was coming out of the square crawl space of deck six and looked down at him. Out of the crawl space, in the man's hands, came a strange looking rifle type weapon Vincent had never seen before. The man pulled the trigger on the gun and a jet of flame came rushing down at Vincent.

Vincent felt the heat barely rush by him as he swung into the deck five crawl space. Vincent popped back out after a few seconds and fired back up at the man with the strange gun, his bullets missed but the man had to go back into the square hole to find cover.

Vincent knew he would never be able to get back on the ladder and climb up before the man would have his flame weapon ready again.

Vincent decided to disappear into the deck five crawl space.

He kicked open a metal cover and it clattered to the ground as Vincent rolled out of the crawl space and out on to deck five. One short of where he needed to go.

He saw the elevator and knew he would need the access code to get to deck six, he looked up and down deck five, hoping for some kind of hint as to where he should go. The sound of the elevator moving was hint enough he should get away from the elevator at least.

Vincent turned and sprinted away as the doors opened revealing four men in dark clothing, two with swords and two with the same strange weapon as the man in the deck six crawl space.

They spotted Vincent and then men with swords gave chase leaving the two men with the flame guns to guard the elevator.

Vincent looked back at the two men pursuing him, then as he looked forward he knew exactly what the solution to his situation was.

The hallway ahead turned to the left and led into yet another hallway, Vincent turned left and was out of sight for a mere few seconds before the two men turned the corner expecting to see Vincent running down the hallway.

Instead they only saw the empty hallway and where it ended.

The two stared straight ahead in confusion; they didn't notice Vincent as he landed almost unrealistically silent behind them, he had dropped from the ceiling.

Vincent simultaneously stabbed one with his gold claw and knocked the other one out cold with the butt of his revolver. He let the one he stabbed fall dead to the ground and took the unconscious one as a shield for the men with the flame guns.

Vincent appeared back in the main deck five hall and the two men with flame guns looked shocked as Vincent returned with an unconscious ally in tow. Vincent quickly awoke the sleeping enemy and put his revolver to the back of his head.

"One of you two knows the access code for deck six, you take me to deck six and I don't kill your ally," Vincent offered.

Vincent stood with his hostage about two feet from the deadly flame guns.

Both men raised their weapons and fired, obviously not so caring of their friend.

Vincent had anticipated such a move; he tossed his shield into the jet of flame and quickly threw the man's sword which he had clutched in his clawed hand. The blade spun and beheaded the man with the flame gun on the right, immediately the gun dropped to the ground. Before the second one could fire at Vincent a clawed hand grabbed the flame gun and ripped it from his grasp.

"Now," Vincent said tossing the strange gun aside and aiming his own revolver, "take me to deck six."

It seemed the man valued his life far more than he valued the life of his now very crispy ally.

Vincent kept the man at gunpoint as he entered the access code and the elevator made its way up to deck six.

"If I were you," Vincent said, "I would hope I didn't do something stupid like send this elevator somewhere other than deck six."

The man didn't respond but when the doors chimed open there was a sign saying they were on deck six.

"Thank you," Vincent said and smashed the man across the face with his gun making sure he wouldn't wake up for a while.

Vincent stepped out onto deck six.

It was a straight hallway that stopped at a large fancy looking golden door; the door that Vincent guessed led to the bridge.

He reloaded his revolver and walked toward the door. It slid apart as soon as it sensed his presence and inside he found what he was looking for, the bridge. Vincent quickly picked out the control console and the man standing at it. When Vincent was done the man who could fly the ship and he himself would be the only ones still standing.

There were about six people including the pilot on the bridge and as soon as they noticed Vincent's presence they all moved for weapons.

Two had guns at their post and began firing; the small pistols missed Vincent as he quickly ducked behind a console. He popped back up when firing stopped and aimed for a moment. Two shots, two dead bridge crew…four remained.

One of those four picked up a sword and turned to charge at Vincent only to have enough time to see his enemy stand before being blown off his feet when the bullet impacted his chest.

Three left.

Vincent walked slowly toward the pilot who scrambled around his console looking for some sort of weapon. One man ran at Vincent from the left with a blade, yelling all the way, Vincent casually aimed his revolver and stopped the charge in its tracks. Vincent hadn't fired yet, but the man froze.

Vincent looked into the man's wide eyes, "You probably shouldn't have stopped."

With that bit of advice given Vincent fired his gun, the direct hit to the head sent the dead man over a console and landed with a thud on the other side.

The final enemy he could kill popped up with a pistol in hand and fired a single shot, Vincent brought up his clawed hand and the bullet ricocheted off the golden armoured arm.

In response Vincent raised his gun and fired, killing the second last of the bridge crew and turning toward the pilot.

The pilot had finally found a weapon; he attempted a charge at Vincent with a steel pipe the man had picked up.

Vincent effortlessly aimed and blew the pipe right out of the pilot's hand causing the man to trip and fall to the ground.

Vincent stepped toward the pilot while reloading his revolver.

"You fly this thing where I want," Vincent told him, "and you can have it once I'm off."

No one ever ran faster to a destination.

Within minutes Vincent had directed the pilot to pick up his two friends and then Vincent made sure their trip to the bridge was secure.

Professor Gast, Lucrecia and Vincent stood on the bridge of the airship.

"Well, I must say," Gast said looking around, "you're not too bad at this hostile takeover stuff are you?"

Vincent shrugged.

"Take us into Midgar, get us as close to Shinra Headquarters as possible," Vincent said after explaining quickly to the clueless pilot what exactly Headquarters looked like.

"That was pretty good," Lucrecia said standing beside Vincent.

Vincent looked to her.

"Clearing the ship and getting us on, all heroic and stuff," Lucrecia explained, "that was pretty good."

"Thank you," Vincent replied.

Vincent appeared indifferent, but for once he knew what it felt like to be flattered.

"Vincent look!" Gast said urgently.

Around the entrance to Shinra Headquarters stood at least twelve similar black clad men and women.

"We have to fight through all of them?" asked Lucrecia incredulously. "I can use a gun but I'm a scientist not a warrior."

"Well, we do have to get in," Gast said.

Vincent nodded, "I have another idea."

"Uh oh," muttered Lucrecia.

"Where's the labs?" asked Vincent.

Gast pointed to the general area of Headquarters where the laboratories were.

"You see where he's pointing?" asked Vincent to the pilot who nodded that he did.

"Good," Vincent said, "that's where I want you to ram the airship into."

"Ram Headquarters?" asked Gast wide-eyed.

"Yes," Vincent said deadpan.

Vincent looked at the pilot, "Full speed, I want the majority of this vessel inside that building."


	14. Mardra

**Chapter 13**

**Mardra**

Sam, Aeris and Cloud came upon Costa Del Sol just as a transport ship was docking, ready to take more customers across to the other continent. The three entered the warm beach resort and immediately talked to the captain of the ship.

"This is my last run, with Midgar under attack the way it is they'll probably shut the boat down when I hit Junon," the captain, a heavy man wearing a hat to cover his bald head, told the three of them. "Seeing as it's my last one and only a one way ticket it'll be free so you won't have to worry about money. You caught me at a good time."

Aeris nodded, "Thank you, captain. Do you happen to know anything about who's attacking Midgar by the way?"

The captain shook his head, "Nobody knows," the captain said and started walking back to his brown and rusted ship, "We'll cast off in thirty minutes. I can wait, but try and be on time."

"We will," Aeris assured.

The captain boarded his ship leaving the three alone.

"Well, now we have our way across the pond and thirty minutes to kill," Sam said looking around.

"I'll go ask around, see if anyone knows about what's going on at Midgar," Aeris said.

"What are you doing Cloud?" asked Sam.

Cloud just stared off across the water.

"Cloud?" asked Aeris seeing his vacant look.

"Airships," Cloud said.

Sam looked to where Cloud was looking and did indeed see airships.

"He's right, look," Sam said gesturing toward the vessels.

"It looks like they're coming this way," Cloud said.

"They are," Sam said, "at least five."

"Boats," Aeris said suddenly, "there's boats out there too, look!"

There were boats floating out in the water.

Both the airships and the boats were all identical in colour, rather _shade_, they were all black.

"The boats are coming this way too," Aeris said.

"We may be jumping to conclusions, they're all still miles from shore they could easily divert their course and…" Sam was cut off by a very loud boom, like thunder in the distance. "…that _can't_ be good."

The building behind the three of them suddenly exploded knocking all of them a few feet away, the shockwave blew things through the air and sent just about everyone in the small resort tumbling. Pieces of the building were tossed in all directions and one of the heavy pieces that made up the building managed to hit Sam in mid air, right in the back of the head.

"Son of a…" another explosion to Sam's right cut him off and sent him helplessly rolling to the side, finally coming to a stop on his back.

Sam opened his eyes and looked around, then finished his sentence, "…bitch."

"Sam, where are you?" asked the familiar voice of Aeris.

He sat up and rubbed the back of his head; the velocity of the heavy object would have killed anyone else, it left Sam with only a bloody cut and a headache.

Through the blinding dust and kicked up sand he managed to signal Aeris and she ran over to him.

"Where's Cloud?" asked Sam, rubbing the sand out of his eyes.

"I don't know, I lost him," Aeris said.

"Well, then, let's find…" another explosion to his right sent a column of sand into the air, "I really wish they would wait until I finish my sentences before…" yet another explosion erupted knocking Aeris off her feet, "…they blow stuff up."

Sam shook his head and helped Aeris up, "We have to get out of range of those weapons, where's the last place you saw Cloud?"

Suddenly there was another rumbling, this was different, the sound of airships. Five black airships came to a stop and hovered just over the water and overlooked Costa Del Sol.

"Screw it, let's just run and hope we see him," Sam yelled and turned.

Aeris followed Sam in a sprint just as the Airships let loose. More explosive rounds ripped through the resort and the two barely avoided the devastating explosions.

"You two, over here, now!" yelled a voice; they turned to see three Shinra soldiers and a commanding officer in red. They were all pointing to a door on a building that hadn't yet been leveled.

Aeris and Sam headed for the door as a single airship rumbled over them and stopped to hover above.

"Wait, Cloud," Aeris said over the noise of the ship.

"The man's got skills, sweetheart, he'll live," Sam said, "we need to get away from this airship right now, and then we can worry about Cloud."

"No, he might be under attack by one of these airships, he might need help," Aeris yelled over a new loud noise.

"Aeris, he's not an idiot, he'll hide, and we need to do the same at this point!" Sam retorted.

Aeris shook her head and turned away, intending on going out to look for Cloud. About four feet away a number of figures in black clothing dropped from the airship and landed on the ground.

"Outcasts," Sam muttered grinning, "I win the bet, Aeris, now you can keep your money and pay me by coming with me instead!"

"You two get the hell in here!" yelled a Shinra soldier coming up beside them and firing his rifle at the group of dark-clad figures ahead.

Two of the group drew swords and deflected the bullets.

"Who are these guys?" asked the soldier.

"Bad news, we should be leaving," Sam said.

The three of them turned to run as a few more of the dark figures fell from above and landed behind them.

"Wonderful," Sam growled.

"Well, here's a face I hadn't planned on seeing," said one of the black-clad figures.

The man wore a simple black shirt and black pants; he also had a rifle of some kind with a scope attachment on top of the barrel in his right hand.

"Back from the dead," Sam said to the dark clad man, "join the club I guess."

"Samael," the man said, "now why would you be here?"

"Why wouldn't I?" asked Sam. "Women with barely any clothing, warm climate."

"It does sound like your kind of place, but let's look at this logically," the man said almost condescendingly, "how long has it been since you visited a beach?"

"I was overdue," Sam replied.

"Mardra," said a female member of the dark group behind the man named Mardra, "we should be looking for the Cetra."

Mardra looked over his shoulder at the woman, "I'm having a conversation, honey it's rude to interrupt."

"You tell me what you're doing here and then I'll tell you," Sam said.

"Why does it have to be me first?" asked Mardra.

"Why not?" asked Sam.

"I have the upper hand, I should decide who goes first, no?" asked Mardra.

"I have the disadvantage, you should let me choose to even things out," Sam replied.

"Yes, because, you know," Mardra said, "it _does_ appear like we're interested in making things fair, does it not?"

"I guess not, seeing as you just bombed the hell out of a place with no enemies," Sam said.

"I wouldn't say I bombed it to _hell_," Mardra said shrugging, "that is unless you have a certain score system for how much something must be bombed to be considered worthy of _bombed to hell_."

Mardra signaled and every dark clad figure around them drew various weapons.

"Sarcasm and the same bad jokes," said a voice coming from somewhere behind Mardra, "you and Sam must be related."

Mardra looked up and then in different directions.

"He's invisible, my friend," Sam said grinning, "look to your right if you please, 'cause Cloud is in _da hizzouse_!"

A dark clad figure to Mardra's right was thrown off their feet by the slash of a blade that didn't appear to exist. Sam snapped his fingers and suddenly Cloud appeared out of nowhere with his sword drawn.

"I'm in the what?" asked Cloud.

"Hizzouse," Sam said, "never mind, I don't really get that one either."

Cloud brought his knee up to his chest and kicked forward connecting with the dark clad man in front's stomach sending him stumbling backward. A second dark clad figure, this time female, came at him with two swords.

Cloud parried both blades continually; sparks flew as her blades connected with his sword. Cloud spun away to get out of the trend he had gotten into with parrying the woman's attacks and tried a new angle.

Cloud slashed with his sword and the woman managed to get her right hand sword back to block. The sheer size of the sword and power of Cloud's attack sent her sword flying out of her hand. Her other sword came around and Cloud had to duck to evade that attack. He came up with a slice that the woman blocked and jumped into a graceful back flip to avoid.

Cloud heard the foot steps before he saw his enemies.

Two more black clad men came in from behind Cloud, each with a single sword. The man he had kicked before was also back and joined the other two. On top of that the woman had retrieved her second sword and was also on the move again.

Cloud spun and whacked away the three men's swords; they quickly brought them back in front to parry an attack by Cloud.

The woman and yet another black clad figure, this one also female, came at Cloud's back. The new arrival didn't have a sword; she had a long whip that appeared to be constructed of some kind of grey metal. Metal that still allowed the whip to perform its function. Cloud split his sword in two, now with a sword in each hand, and used his detached new sword to block the quick strike of the woman behind him.

He was now parrying attacks from both in front and behind, and doing an excellent job of it. Spinning almost effortlessly between attacks so he spent equal time blocking every of his enemies' attempts.

Then the woman with the whip decided to make her move, this one Cloud couldn't stop. The whip wrapped tightly around his right ankle and she tugged him off his feet. Cloud landed heavily on his back, the black clad figures moved in and readied to finish their enemy off.

Cloud yanked the whip free of the woman's hands and used his tied ankle to control the whip. The metal weapon shot in a full three sixty Cloud created with his ankle and smashed every single one of his enemies in the face. As they all hit the ground Cloud freed his ankle and got to his feet in time to block yet another black figure's attack by sword.

Eventually, Cloud realized, there were just going to be too many enemies to fight. Cloud ducked under a sword swipe and quickly drove one of his two swords into the ground beside him. He then picked up the whip and flicked it so it tied around his newest enemy's feet. It tied his ankles together and Cloud pulled straight back forcing the man to fall on his back, knocking the wind out of him. Cloud quickly used what was left of the whip to tie the man's hands and then moved to retrieve his second sword.

The other black figures had found their footing and charged at Cloud.

Cloud took a quick run and jumped; using his embedded sword for momentum he swung around and used both of his feet to kick one of his enemies in the face. The attack audibly broke bones and sent the man flying through the air and hitting the ground, unconscious.

He landed on both feet and brought the second sword out of the ground and up in time to block an attack from the woman in black and used his other sword to disarm one of the men in black. His sword sliced the man's sword hand clean off leaving the sword clutched in the detached hand on the ground. Cloud spun and quickly parried another attack from a dark clad man and was forced to dive forward as the woman attacked from his other side and a third party jabbed with a sword at his back.

Cloud shot headfirst through the air and rolled back to his feet, anticipating how quickly his enemies would follow, Cloud wasted no time turning and slashing both swords horizontally in front of him as he turned toward them.

The outcome was better than expected, his three enemies stood in shock as their weapons were suddenly thrown from their hands as if grabbed by an invisible force, Sam's handiwork.

With no way to defend and no way to stop the swords Cloud's swipe decapitated all three dark clad figures and their dead, headless, bodies flopped to the ground.

Cloud connected the swords back together and turned to look for another enemy.

Mardra aimed his rifle and fired.

Cloud moved impossibly fast and his sword deflected the single heavy round from the rifle. The bullet ended up having enough velocity, even after being defied by Cloud's sword; to hit and kill a dark clad figure standing off to Cloud's left.

"My turn," Sam said and waved a casual hand at the first group of black clad figures to land. They were all tossed off their feet and on their backs.

Mardra growled in frustration and quickly turned and fired his rifle at Sam.

Sam turned to deflect the bullet but Aeris beat him to it.

Her staff shot up extremely fast and hit the bullet from below popping it into the air. With another display of quickness she reached up with her staff and hit the bullet again, the magical staff gave the bullet the push it needed and it drove right into the black clad figure behind Mardra, he fell dead.

Mardra fired his rifle a few more times and yelled for his people to get back on the airship.

"You underestimated us, friend," Sam said as Mardra was the last black clad figure left on the ground. "You don't usually make such mistakes; you're losing your touch."

"Maybe, but it seems you still can't kill me," Mardra said. "Out of respect for our past you've got one minute to leave this place before we reduce it to ashes, until we meet again old friend."

Mardra shot up into the air and landed safely back on the airship.

"Old friend?" asked Cloud walking up beside Sam.

"Story for another time, we need to leave," Sam replied.

"The transport ship?" asked Aeris.

"I have an alternate travel arrangement I can call upon, there's no time for the ship," Sam said, "we have to get as far away from here as possible."

The Shinra soldier looked as if he might say something but instead ran to find the others to tell them to leave.

"Were they Outcasts?" asked Cloud running at full speed in between Aeris and Sam.

"Yeah that was a few of them," Sam yelled back as the sound of the all the airships' engines firing to life and then propelling them away from the resort could be heard.

"The airships are leaving," Aeris said short of breath.

"The boats must be sticking around to finish the job," Sam said.

As the three got just outside of Costa Del Sol they saw that only one black boat remained.

The three couldn't help but watch, wondering what exactly would come from the ship to destroy the resort. There didn't appear to be any weapons on the boat, missile launchers of any kind were absent entirely.

"People, who's that?" asked Sam pointing at the boat.

The three stopped and looked across at the vessel, on the highest point of the boat stood an elderly looking man with long grey hair and a similar grey beard. He wore a black cloak and held in his left hand a beat up and old looking staff.

"Looks like Santa Claus wanted to pay a visit to the beach," Sam said.

"Santa who?" asked Cloud but then waved his hand, "never mind, I don't wanna know."

"He's a Cetra, I can tell by the staff, he looks a lot older than most Cetra I know," Aeris said.

"Look at his staff," Cloud said pointing.

The old man's staff glowed blue, then changed to green, back to blue, to black—the staff's original colour—and then it stopped at a bright glowing red colour.

"What's he doing?" asked Cloud.

"That staff of his, when it glows," Sam said.

"It looks like Materia," Cloud said.

"Exactly, I think his staff is Materia," Sam replied.

"Made of Materia?" asked Cloud. "Is that possible?"

"For a Cetra," Sam muttered shrugging.

"Never heard of an Outcast with a staff made of Materia," Aeris said.

"Maybe it's a new thing, who knows," Sam said.

The old man raised the staff in the air, still glowing red, and the three fell silent to watch what was happening. Suddenly a jet of flame erupted from the shore just in front of Costa Del Sol, after a moment a creature emerged from the flame.

A familiar creature, one which both Aeris and Cloud named simultaneously.

"Ifrit," they said at the same time.

"Summon Materia," Sam said shaking his head, "this just keeps getting worse."

Ifrit floated up into the air and hovered above the resort like an airship.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Sam said as Ifrit began his attack.

"Everyone in the water, now!" Cloud yelled, realizing the powerful flame created by Ifrit would likely reach them where they stood.

"Ah, _crap_," Sam growled and charged toward the water, Cloud and Aeris in tow.

Ifrit unleashed a massive jet of flame that encompassed the entire resort and more, as Cloud anticipated, the jet rushed out from the now completely demolished resort and shot out after them as they ran. Cloud could feel and hear the deadly flame charging after them as if it were a living thing.

"Hurry, dive!" Cloud yelled and he put action to words as he and his two companions jumped off a small cliff and splashed into the water and submerged just as the inferno washed over them.

As powerful as the flame was, even it couldn't beat its weakness; the water protected the three of them.

After a moment they surfaced and treaded water looking around, the ship was gone.

"Oh, no," Aeris gasped, they looked at Costa Del Sol…what _used_ to be Costa Del Sol. Now it was nothing but a large charred crater in the ground. There was absolutely no solid objects of any kind left to prove the place had ever really stood there.

Sam ran a hand through his soaked hair, "We have some serious problems."


	15. The New Junon

**Chapter 14**

**The New Junon**

Cid Highwind and Wymond stood silently on the bridge of the Highwind as it made its way through the air toward Junon Harbour. Tifa had come back with Wymond the night before with news of what had happened to Vincent. Mostly everyone was in a similar state of disbelief, Tifa was about as inconsolable as one could be and talked to no one all that night. Red XIII assumed it was because Tifa had been there to watch him die, he knew what kind of affect that has on someone compared to just hearing the news like they had.

The show of emotion from Yuffie was something the group had never really seen, she was about as sad as Tifa. She sat on a rock just staring at the ground, when Red XIII trotted over to ask if she was alright she had said, "The guy was always so dark and hard to get along with…but I always liked him."

"It is not unusual for one to realize how much they truly care for one after they have passed," Red XIII said wisely. "It is realizing this beforehand that is hard."

Even Reno and Rufus sat silently after hearing the news, though the two of them weren't by any means as friendly with Vincent as the others, they did realize that they had lost an ally, whether they were very close to that ally or not.

The next morning everyone awoke and gathered to tackle the issue of how they would defeat the Ancient Black minus one friend.

"Aeris believed he could destroy the Ancient Black," Wymond said, "but she did not say we couldn't do it without him. I know it's not easy but we do have to try and stay on task, the Black can't be far off."

"What's our next move?" asked Cid with a look that clearly stated he wanted to get moving and start killing some more Shadows. Generally Cid didn't get sad, after hearing the news of Vincent everyone reacted in their own way, Cid, naturally, reacted as he did for most things. He got pissed off and wanted nothing more than to get some payback.

"We should find your supplier and stock your airship with as many weapons and as much ammunition as we can, now that we're short one man we're going to need everything we can get," Wymond said.

"I'll get her in the air," Cid said moving off to the Highwind.

"I will accompany him, the rest of you should take a moment if you need it, do whatever you need to do to try and clear your minds," Wymond said, "when the time comes being distracted by his memory will kill you as well."

"I'll go too," Tifa said walking toward Wymond.

"You, above all, need to do whatever you need to do to clear your mind," Wymond said.

"I'm fine," Tifa said deadpan.

"None of you are fine, to consider yourself fine in such a situation is denial," Wymond replied.

"I can handle it," Tifa insisted.

"Tifa, I know how people like you work," Wymond said shaking his head, "you're like Aeris, you care about everyone, treat everyone as if they were your friends or family. It is quite possible you and Aeris could be considered two of the nicest people in existence as I have never met any two people who equaled both the strength you have in such a personality along with the subsequent weakness."

Tifa just looked down at the ground.

Wymond put a hand on her shoulder, "Vincent's memory will long linger in your mind as others will begin to accept his fate, that's just how it is with people like you and Aeris. I need someone like Cid, someone who reacts with anger and determination instead of sadness."

"You're saying I'll slow you down," Tifa replied looking up.

"I'm saying you're not ready to fight yet," Wymond said, "at least not to your full potential, what you need to do is what all people like you do. Go find a place, sit or lie down, and think about things until you can't possibly think about anything anymore. When you're done you'll find you've come to a sort of acceptance."

"You talk like you know how I work better than I know how I work," Tifa said quietly.

"I'm a Cetra guardian; it's my job to know such things, to understand how someone may think."

"Can you read minds?" asked Tifa.

Wymond laughed, "Why do you people always assume that, a man can understand a woman…he _must_ have some supernatural ability!"

Tifa laughed.

"The world has come to believe a certain set of rules, so certain that no one could ever believe that there are things and people that work outside of those rules," Wymond said.

"Like the Cetra," Tifa said.

"If we couldn't understand things most are unable to understand the Cetra wouldn't be so special," Wymond said, "we probably wouldn't be so _dead_ either, but things are how they are."

"Thank you," Tifa said.

"I just used a bunch of big fancy words to explain what you already knew, there's nothing to thank me for," Wymond then turned and walked toward the Highwind just as it hummed to life.

After a small trip the Highwind came to a stop to hover above Junon. After the incident years ago with Sephiroth Junon Harbour had been completely revamped and turned back into the bustling harbour city it had once been.

Junon was almost completely different now, it still had landing pads for airships but the rest was the opposite of what it had been. The platform above that had been built by Shinra that blocked the town below from the sky was gone leaving only the pads for airships. New shops and homes had been built and the harbour city was now something it hadn't been for a very long time: independent, and free of Shinra.

"Show me where to put this down and tell Chuck I'm on my way to his place," Cid said into the communicator on his control console.

"Cid Highwind, you visit here far too often," said a female voice, it sounded like a joke but her voice was painfully serious.

Cid seemed to ignore the woman, "Is Shera down there still?"

"Still working with Chuck on that new armour of yours, why?" asked the woman.

"Good, tell her I'm bringing a guest and make some fu…" Cid paused, "…make some tea."

"You want me to tell her to make some tea?" asked the woman.

"You're just sittin' there on your fat ass, make yourself useful," Cid growled.

The woman cut the communication.

"So you'll insult a random landing pad operator, but you refrain from swearing when referring to tea?" asked Wymond.

"Long story, don't bother," Cid replied.

Wymond shook his head and watched as the Highwind came to a perfect landing on the pad.

"Chuck's place is down in the main town, he's the best supplier for airships that come this way," Cid said.

"He puts up with you, must be expensive stuff he sells," Wymond muttered, Cid didn't hear him.

"Alright, let's get moving, you got the Gil?" asked Cid.

Wymond nodded.

"Good, it'll take a while to put together the stuff and get it on board, I'm also gonna ask about something else while we're here," Cid said stepping away from the controls and heading to the bridge exit.

"Sounds like I'll be sitting around for a while," Wymond said, "hope they have some good tea down there."

"The best," Cid said, though he didn't really appear to be trying to sell the quality of the tea that much.

The two exited the ship and workers on the landing pad began to swarm toward the ship.

"Make sure she still runs, break anything and I'll kill you all personally," Cid growled at them. The workers appeared to be unfazed by the threats and went about their jobs.

Wymond assumed Cid said something similar every time he landed here and the mechanics had just started getting used to it as it happened so often.

The two stepped onto a large platform and it immediately began humming and moving downward at a slant. The platform was connected to a beam of some kind that went down at an angle to the town below; the platform followed the metal beam at a somewhat slow pace and eventually came to a stop. The two stepped off and the platform immediately began its trip back to the top.

"They only got one of those damn things per landing pad, said they were gonna get more, hasn't happened yet," Cid said apparently annoyed by this.

"I imagine those things can get quite full if a lot of people want to visit the town below," Wymond said.

"Yeah, things are damned inconvenient if you ask me," Cid muttered.

"I suppose it's better than having to jump down," Wymond said shrugging.

Cid looked at the guardian for a moment then nodded slightly, "Guess ya got a point there."

Wymond looked around the large bustling town, ahead it looked like they were about to run into a very large wall of people milling around. Children were running left and right, parents were chasing after them. People of all shapes and sizes charged from building to building hoping to get into the next shop without getting run over.

"This place used to be really dead," Cid told Wymond, "soon as Shinra kicked it, boom, look at it, thriving again."

"It does look like a prosperous place," Wymond said barely avoiding being tripped by a little girl who shot past him. "If a bit crowded."

"Yeah, it can be easy to get lost," Cid said, "but it's a hell of a lot better than the way it was."

Wymond made sure he stayed close to Cid, the guardian knew if he got lost he would truly be very lost. Wymond had no idea what any of the buildings were, there were no real signs, and he didn't feel that fighting the crowd to check every single building would be very fun.

"Here we go," Cid said finally pointing to a nondescript brown building, the door to the place was guarded by two large men.

"The place needs doormen?" asked Wymond.

"It's full of weapons and other stuff, Chuck didn't want any kids or anything accidentally running inside," Cid replied.

"Conscientious man," Wymond commented.

"Yeah, it's almost amazing the guy can bring himself to sell a sharp rock let alone heavy weaponry," Cid said, "he'd hesitate to kill a damn insect."

Cid walked up to the two doormen, "Hey guys how's it going, still guarding the door?"

"Same old," replied the one to the left deadpan.

"Chuck knows you're coming, go on in," said the second.

"This is my guest," Cid said pointing casually to Wymond. "He's something of a guard himself."

"Really," said the left doorman, not showing any real interest in what Cid had to say.

"I'm more a protector of people than doors though," Wymond said.

"People can talk back, people can run away," the right doorman said, "doors, they don't take no work at all to guard."

"Well said," Wymond replied.

"Thank you," the right-hand doorman said.

"Alright, enough chat, let's go see Chuck," Cid said opening the door, Wymond followed him in. "That damn tea better be ready!"

The last comment could be heard as the door slammed shut.

"What is it with that guy and tea?" asked the left-hand doorman.

"It's his thing," the right-hand one said.

"Thing?" asked the other.

"You know, we do _doors_," the right one said, "he does _tea_."

"Oh," the left-hand one said nodding, "I get it."

Inside Cid and Wymond entered into what appeared to be your stereotypical vision of a shop. There was a large wooden counter at the back with merchandise all around the place, on walls, in cases.

Wymond and Cid were surrounded by a massive collection of weapons, a great variety of them too. Guns, swords, spears, axes, quarterstaffs, daggers, those were all Wymond noticed before someone else spoke and reverted his attention.

"Cid, wondering when I'd get some more of your money," said a man now behind the counter. His voice was common, like any random person you might meet on the street, in fact he had this look about him entirely. Nothing special about the guy at all, he was quite small, probably three or four inches shorter than Wymond and also very small in the way of skinny.

It seemed it was no wonder the man was into big weapons, he didn't appear to have the physical strength to defeat an enemy but anyone with a large gun could take on a strong enemy.

He wore slightly curved square glasses and a plain white shirt with blue pants. Wymond also noticed a fancy ring on his right hand ring finger, it was gold with a hint of something red laced through it and a small red ruby embedded in the front. It was on the wrong hand to signal marriage so the ring either meant nothing or had some other value.

"Chuck, you and I both know you just enjoy my company," Cid replied.

"Make me some tea…is that tea ready…dammit where's my tea…yes I do so enjoy your time spent here," the man replied sarcastically. "It's a wonder how that woman lives with you I must say."

"You're just sayin' that 'cause you got a crush on Shera," Cid said smiling.

"Oh don't start with the crush thing again, for the last time I _tripped_," Chuck said shaking his head.

"And happened to land right on top of Shera," Cid said nudging Wymond as if asking the guardian to play along.

What it was exactly that made Cid think Wymond would play along escaped him and he just shook his head.

"Yes, because she tripped over the _same_ large rocket launcher," Chuck said.

"I'm sure she did," Cid said.

"The same large rocket launcher you still haven't paid me for fixing by the way," Chuck continued.

"Today's your lucky day, Chuck, all debts will be paid," Cid said, "thanks to my new very rich buddy here I'll pay you for the things I haven't and for a few new requests."

Chuck seemed uninterested, "Yeah, whatever, you know I just do stuff for you because I enjoy your company."

"No, because you know the more I come here the more _Shera_ will come here," Cid said as Chuck disappeared through a door behind the counter.

"_I tripped_!" came the yell from through the now closed door.

"It's almost amazing you have acquaintances," Wymond said, "it appears to me that friends would be out of the question."

"Ah, just teaching the kid to toughen up, there are meaner people out there than me you know," Cid said slapping Wymond on the shoulder and heading toward the counter.

"Yes, or you're jealous because he's probably smarter than you," Wymond said following him.

Cid stopped and turned to look at the guardian, "_That's it_, no tea for you!"

Cid vaulted the counter and went through the door.

"Oh, how horrible you are to deprive me of my hot beverage," Wymond murmured and did likewise.

Wymond closed the door behind him and now found himself in what appeared to be a very quaint little kitchen. The stove was straight ahead with other kitchen worthy appliances scattered around. There was also another door to Wymond's left which Wymond assumed led to a bathroom, bedroom, or some other home-like arrangement like a kitchen.

In the middle of the kitchen, naturally, was a round wooden table, sitting in one of the seats was an attractive brown haired woman wearing a white coat over her clothing and green pants. She also, like Chuck, wore glasses; hers were more rounded and oval-like.

"Shera, I presume?" asked Wymond walking toward the table and talking to the woman, she smiled.

"Yes, how did you know?" she asked.

"Process of elimination," he stuck out his hand, "Wymond."

"Wymond, interesting name," Shera said shaking his hand.

"How so?" asked Wymond.

"Well, in some very old dialects the name Wymond is directly translated to _guardian_, it's one of the very few names given to people that have direct meanings," Shera said. "It's also very rare because on average these names with direct meanings were given to Ancients…I read that somewhere."

"I was wrong, Cid," Wymond said looking at him.

Cid looked back curiously.

Wymond smiled at Shera, "_She's_ the one who's smarter than you."


	16. Miss Dolphin?

**Chapter 15**

**Miss Dolphin?**

Wymond sat and talked with Shera about her acquired knowledge on Cetra names as Cid and Chuck worked out exactly what it is Cid wanted done, adding "money is no object." This made the negotiations much simpler naturally.

"You seem to know a lot about the Cetra yourself," Shera said to Wymond.

"I feel I'm a little bit closer to the Cetra than most people know," Wymond said grinning a little.

"So many people really want to know all about them, it's just too bad they're all gone," Shera said.

"Some think it may have been for the best, they think that they wouldn't have been able to live in today's society," Wymond commented.

"They're the Cetra, if they were as powerful as we've been told then they should have been able to adapt to anything," Shera replied.

"Maybe they wouldn't want to adapt, the Cetra were travelers, they never stayed in one place and lived there," Wymond said, "in fact the life of making a home and living in one place had a large part in the demise of the Cetra. If they still survived today then it would have only ended in the same way."

"You might be right, but we can't really know now, I guess," Shera said.

"I do believe the Cetra might be happier had it gone differently though," Wymond said. "They do enjoy life much more."

"You talk like you know, you're just assuming they do because of what we've been told about them," Shera said shrugging, "they might have been nothing like what the stories say."

Wymond nodded, "That's possible, but I feel strongly that what we know of the Cetra would be correct."

Couldn't have come from a more reliable source, not that Shera could have known just how reliable.

"Shera, could you help Cid and I? I wanna give him the specs on that new armour," Chuck said.

Shera looked to Wymond, "Excuse me."

Wymond nodded to her and she got up.

"I'll go look around, come find me when you're all done," Wymond said standing up.

"Don't get lost, it can be real crowded out there," Chuck warned.

"I'll make sure to stay in the general area," Wymond replied and headed for the door.

"We shouldn't be too long," Shera promised.

"No rush," Wymond said leaving the kitchen.

There however was a rush, he just didn't want to convey their problem to Chuck and Shera, Cid knew what kind of time limit they had and knew he should work accordingly. The Ancient Black shouldn't appear until roughly three days after the appearance of the building, so they had this day and the next. After that they would have to fight the Black.

Wymond left the shop and walked out into the crowd, managing to avoid collisions as well as could be expected in the mass of people. He looked around, hoping to find a quiet place, someplace to send a message across time and existences; he needed to check on Aeris. Knowing the message could take a long time to be received he knew he had to send it as soon as possible; he wanted her to know who exactly was behind all of this nonsense.

Though, he also really just wanted to know she was alive. Of course, being her guardian, had she died…not in the literal sense as she _was_ really already dead, even in a different dimension, he would know. Their telepathic connection would have been severed had she been sent back to the Lifestream. Even though this was true Wymond still wanted to hear a return message from his charge. Wymond was in a profession that didn't allow connections with the Cetra you were protecting but it was hard not to like Aeris.

Their relationship, if you could even call it that, for a while was strictly professional, she was the only Cetra he had ever guarded that had broken the barrier and actually talked to him. It wasn't that guardians didn't or couldn't talk, however, it's just most charges if not all charges simply were to think of guardians as guardians alone, their shadows, protecting them, but gratitude wasn't necessary, they were just doing their job.

Up until he had met Aeris Wymond had, like all the other guardians, become comfortable with the unending silence and he had talked very little for most of his career let alone have a conversation.

Then when he was assigned to her, she had forced him back into a world he realized he missed, the world where he wasn't just a shadow no one could see. He had begun to enjoy the conversations he had with Aeris, though at first she had done much of the talking to herself, this didn't seem to bug her however.

Eventually, Wymond had what no guardian could claim to have: a somewhat friendly relationship with his charge.

In any case the prospect of being separated from her made him uneasy, not just because he would be in some serious trouble if she were to be sent back to the Lifestream a second time, but because she was a friend.

Wymond had also never told anyone the face he had seen while underwater in the Forgotten City. He had clearly seen and recognized the man behind it all, but with Vincent being killed everyone seemed to have forgotten momentarily why they had gone to the city in the first place. Above all he knew he wanted to make sure Aeris knew who she and her spikey-haired friend were up against.

On the side he was checking up to make sure the said spikey-haired man was doing his job of keeping her safe.

Wymond found exactly where he wanted to go and headed there, away from the town and bustle of people was a small beach with sparkling blue water beyond. He saw no people in the tranquil area and decided to head there, he went past a house and behind it the world changed. Immediately he had switched from an urban environment to an open, and amazingly quiet, beach.

Although he had been mistaken, he wasn't alone on the beach.

Standing on the shore in bare feet and an orange bathing suit was a girl; Wymond guessed she was probably close to being teenaged if a little younger. Off in the water Wymond caught sight of a dolphin shooting up into the air and landing back into the water with a splash.

Wymond heard a somewhat high pitched whistle and the magnificent grey creature jumped into the air again.

Wymond hadn't seen a genuine dolphin in many years; they were very rare after being hunted almost to extinction long ago. This one appeared to be trained by the girl in front of him as every time she blew her whistle the dolphin shot out of the water and into the air.

As the dolphin continued to shot through the air Wymond walked as if hypnotized by the creature's antics and found himself almost right beside the girl. When the dolphin stopped jumping for a while Wymond snapped out of it and suddenly realized the girl was staring at him.

"Oh, sorry," Wymond said, feeling a bit embarrassed, "I was admiring your dolphin."

"I assumed you were staring at Mr. Dolphin instead of me, but there are some weirdoes around here still," the girl said.

Wymond looked at her strangely.

"I was just kidding," she said smiling.

"Oh, of course," Wymond said.

"Priscilla, nice to meet you weirdo," the girl said sticking out her hand.

Wymond shook her hand, "Wymond."

"You like dolphins?" asked Priscilla.

"I haven't seen one in a very long time, they're rare creatures, fascinating," Wymond said.

"Nice to finally meet someone who likes them as much as I do, Mr. Dolphin's been around here for a while, he's pretty much family," Priscilla said.

Just as she said that Mr. Dolphin swam right up to the shallow water and called to them with a dolphin's signature screech and tossed some water at Wymond with his nose.

The water splashed on Wymond and he jumped a bit in surprise.

"I think Mr. Dolphin likes you," Priscilla said laughing.

"May I?" asked Wymond indicating he wanted to move closer to the dolphin.

"Sure," she replied.

Wymond stepped into the water a bit and rubbed his hand along the dolphin's wet and smooth skin. Being a Cetra he had an intimate connection with all creatures on the planet, dolphins, being one of the more intelligent, were the easiest to get through to. Wymond could connect with some of the smarter species on the planet telepathically and communicate.

Wymond closed his eyes leaving his hand on Mr. Dolphin's head, Priscilla looked at him curiously.

"She would appreciate it if you called her _Miss_ Dolphin," Wymond said suddenly.

"What?" asked Priscilla.

"This dolphin is female," Wymond said opening his eyes.

"No, he's…how could you…?" she asked.

"I have a certain connection with animals, Mr. Dolphin is a Miss," Wymond said.

He said it with such a face of seriousness that Priscilla wasn't entirely sure the man was joking.

"You couldn't know that," Priscilla said in confusion.

"I tell you the truth," Wymond said, he looked to the dolphin, "she needs proof, two nods and a back flip for female, one nod and a back flip if your male, alright?"

The dolphin made a noise and nodded off in Priscilla's direction.

"She likes it when you blow the whistle," Wymond said, "she won't do tricks otherwise."

"Mr. Dolphin does any trick with the whistle, it won't prove anything," she replied.

"She's right, just this once without the whistle?" asked Wymond.

The dolphin screeched and Wymond spoke to Priscilla, "She wants two fish before she does the trick without the whistle."

Priscilla looked at him strangely for a moment and grabbed a silver bucket; she pulled out two medium sized fish of some kind and gave them to the dolphin.

"Okay?" asked Wymond.

The dolphin turned and shot out into deeper water.

"Two nods and flip for female, one and a flip for male, right?" asked Wymond.

There was a faint screech from the dolphin out in the water.

"Alright, go ahead," Wymond said.

The dolphin shot under water and came up again giving a clear double nod then shooting underwater and coming up again with a graceful back flip. She splashed back into the water and was in front of Priscilla and Wymond again.

"Wow," Priscilla said. "Mr. Dolphin never takes commands without the whistle."

Wymond shrugged.

"_Miss_ Dolphin I guess," Priscilla corrected, "sorry Miss Dolphin."

"She's fine with it, just she could never tell you before," Wymond said.

"How do you do that, talk to her like that?" asked Priscilla.

Wymond walked away from the water and back beside Priscilla.

"Just something I gained over the years," Wymond replied.

"That's amazing, could you teach me?" she asked.

"Well, it's not something you can teach, people like me just have the ability," Wymond said.

"People like you?" asked Priscilla. "There are other people that can talk to dolphins?"

"Not very many anymore, I'm afraid," Wymond replied.

Priscilla's eyes widened, "You're an Ancient aren't you?"

Wymond was taken aback by the guess.

"What makes you say that?" asked Wymond.

"Everyone knows the Ancients were in tune with everything on the planet," Priscilla said sounding excited.

"What exactly do you know about the Ancients?" asked Wymond.

"As much as anyone else, everyone knows about the Ancients, I thought there weren't any left," Priscilla asked, "I remember seeing the last one before I heard she was killed."

"Aeris," Wymond muttered.

"Yeah, that's what they called her, Aeris, so you are an Ancient," Priscilla said happily.

"You could say that," Wymond replied, still wanting to sound vague but knowing it was out already. Not that it mattered whether someone knew there was somehow another Ancient around.

"This is amazing, everyone thought they were dead, where did you hide all this time?" asked Priscilla.

"I pretended not to be a Cetra, eventually I disappeared into the crowd," lied Wymond.

"Are you the last one?" asked Priscilla lowering her voice to a whisper.

"As far as I know," Wymond said continuing to play along.

"I won't tell anyone, it's just good to hear there's one left," Priscilla said.

Hearing the girl talk made Wymond wish he was really somehow a Cetra that had survived and not one that had been accidentally brought back temporarily to life. The thought of an Ancient still existing made the girl seem so happy, Wymond had never thought the Cetra were so well received.

"Is this man bugging you?" asked Cid coming up behind them.

"Hey, Cid, nah, he's just talking to Miss Dolphin," Priscilla replied smiling.

"_Miss_ Dolphin?" asked Cid.

"The dolphin is female," Wymond explained.

"I guess you're gonna tell me you can talk to animals, eh?" asked Cid.

"Mostly just mammals," Wymond said.

"So then how can you talk to a fish?" asked Cid.

Priscilla giggled, "Cid, a dolphin's a mammal you goof!"

"Dolphins are fish!" Cid argued, "they live underwater they're fish!"

Priscilla shook their head, "They have to come up for air, silly, like us."

"I'm corrected again, Cid," Wymond said smiling, "_she's _smarter than you."

Cid was about to respond to Wymond when the ground started rumbling violently, Priscilla started to fall but Wymond grabbed her.

"Is that an earthquake?" asked Priscilla.

Wymond was just barely keeping his footing and supporting the girl, he looked around and then over the water, in the distance he saw the source of the disturbance.

"Priscilla, get back, quickly!" Wymond growled forcing her to her feet.

"Why, what…?" then she saw it, off in the distance something was emerging from the water.

In moments its entire body was floating in the air, it was an entirely black creature with large wings that appeared to be covered with spikes. It also had a pair of feet sporting three deadly looking talons each.

"It has begun to affect the water now," Wymond said looking at Miss Dolphin, "Priscilla do you have somewhere you can take Miss Dolphin that is away from wild waters?"

The dolphin screeched.

"Yes, I have a big water tank set up for her, my parents paid for it after Junon was expanded," Priscilla said.

Wymond realized the girl probably couldn't carry the dolphin.

"That won't work this thing could send Junon straight to hell, look, for you kid, just this once, I could arrange some accommodations for the dolphin on the Highwind and come back, leave some of that fucker for me, Wymond" Cid growled nodding to the huge Shadow. "Sorry." Cid added noticing he had just cursed in front of a young lady.

Wymond nodded and Cid ran over to Miss Dolphin, he lifted the dolphin up and started running, somewhat comically, toward the Highwind.

Wymond drew his Masamune Blade as the Shadow closed in on the beach.

"Go with Cid," Wymond ordered Priscilla.

"You can't fight that," Priscilla said.

"What?" asked Wymond.

"You're the last Cetra, if you die then there won't be any Cetra left," she cried.

The girl was naïve but her thoughts were in the right place, Wymond couldn't help but smile.

"Trust me, I've fought one of these things before, it would be a waste of my Cetra abilities if I didn't use them to defeat this monster," Wymond said.

Priscilla looked off to the incoming creature; Wymond recognized the look in her eyes.

He knew what it felt like to have that look on his face. She wanted to help, she wanted to help protect the last Cetra…naïve, but her thoughts were in the right place.

"One day, if you really want to, I'm sure you'll be strong enough to fight a creature like this, but you're not ready yet," Wymond said, "I can see the look in your eyes, you want to fight it, but to fight it is to die. If you truly wish to fight as I see that you do, dying here will gain you nothing."

Priscilla just nodded, knowing he was right, but she did want to help.

"I must be able to do something for you, anything?" asked Priscilla.

Wymond gestured back to the town, "Get as many people out of Junon as possible, as quickly as possible."

She nodded, "Alright."

Priscilla turned and started to run but stopped and looked over her shoulder, "Be careful, Wymond."

"I'll see you on the Highwind when you pick up Miss Dolphin," Wymond said.

Priscilla smiled and ran off.

Wymond watched the creature approach, the power of its wings made the water under it ripple. He hadn't expected such powerful creatures to be coming so soon.

_"Somebody, help!" _came a sudden shriek from behind the guardian and he spun around to see a woman running on to the beach with another woman, they were chasing after something. Wymond looked up and in the air was another of the Shadow creatures.

"_That thing just grabbed a girl!_" one woman yelled looking around desperately for help, everyone, however, was too busy trying to get the hell out of Junon.

Wymond immediately saw a person in the clutches of the creature's left foot; she had an orange bathing suit on.

"Oh, no," Wymond muttered, "you two, get the hell away from here, I'll take care of the girl."

The two women noticed him for the first time, whether they believed him, or it was the large sword that made them comply he wasn't sure, but they were gone very fast.

"Hold on," Wymond whispered looking around and finding his way to get to Priscilla.

The Shadow with Priscilla was flying toward the other Shadow which was now very close to the beach. Wymond ran straight toward the Shadow creature heading inland, Wymond was almost ankle deep in water before the monster was close enough.

The guardian jumped and landed on the flying Shadow's head, making sure to avoid the deadly spikes that lined its wings and back. He immediately pushed off from the thing's head shooting straight up into the air right toward the Shadow passing overhead.

Wymond rocketed upward blindingly fast and drove his Masamune Blade into the Shadow's underside. It let out a yelp equivalent to what sounded like a normal person getting a sliver or some other mildly inconvenient wound.

The guardian now hung on his sword and was right beside Priscilla.

Wymond looked to her; to his surprise she wasn't screaming and didn't look very scared, in fact she looked angry. She was punching and kicking with futility against the creature and hadn't even noticed Wymond.

"We meet again it appears," Wymond yelled over the rushing wind.

Priscilla stopped struggling and looked over at him, "Wymond!"

"Well, I'm going to try and…" suddenly the Shadow turned upside down and Wymond fell down on to the Shadow's underside, which was now pointing up to the sky. Then almost immediately the Shadow righted itself and Wymond jut barely got his hand back on his embedded sword before falling off. In his hurry Wymond accidentally grabbed the blade instead of the hilt.

To a normal person this would have probably chopped off all their fingers, Wymond, however, was able to hold on to the blade as it cut deep into his hand. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes for a second; trying to get his senses back and ignore the pain.

"Wymond…" Priscilla said seeing his hand and the blood now running down from it.

"I'm fine," Wymond growled and opened his black eyes, "Priscilla you're going to be falling for a few seconds but I'll catch you."

Priscilla just nodded.

Wymond let go of his sword and quickly grabbed it with his left hand, by the hilt this time. He ripped the sword from the Shadow and slashed hard into the monster's leg violently severing it from the Shadow's body. This got quite the high pitched scream from the monster, finally a true show of pain.

Priscilla fell with the severed leg; her stomach was still up with Wymond near the monster. She tightly closed her eyes, not wanting to see the ground come rushing toward her.

Then she felt a weight disappear, the leg fell off her and she was falling freely.

Then it stopped.

She felt arms around her waist and somehow she had stopped, her feet still dangled so she wasn't on the ground…but she wasn't falling. Priscilla slowly opened her eyes, all she saw was the blue sky, then she realized the arms around her waist were coming from behind her.

She looked back and saw Wymond behind her, they were floating.

"Wow," Priscilla said looking all around, she was suspended in the air, "you really are an Ancient."

"Cetra aren't the only beings who can levitate," Wymond said shrugging.

"Yeah," she said smiling back at him, "but only a Cetra can do it with so much style."

"Oh, well," Wymond said, "that…is a trait reserved for Cetra however."

Priscilla laughed.

Suddenly the cry of two very angry monsters interrupted them and drew their attention to the two fast approaching Shadows.

Wymond drew his Masamune Blade in his wounded hand and used his left arm to keep Priscilla in the air with him.

"Hang on," Wymond said as he readied for the attack by the Shadows.

"You're not gonna be able to fight them holding me," Priscilla said. "Get a little lower and drop me in the water."

Wymond shook his head, "There could be more of these things or things like them in the water."

"If you don't they'll just kill us up here," she said.

Of course Wymond knew she was right, but possibly sacrificing the life of a young girl for the ability to fully fight the Shadows wasn't a trade he could make. It wasn't a trade anyone should be able to make.

"Just hold on," Wymond said and readied his blade.

The Shadows closed in and Priscilla closed her eyes tightly again, fully expecting the Shadows to cut into Wymond and herself at any moment.

The sound of the creature's wings and growls were sounding very close, she gritted her teeth.

Then another sound drowned out the monsters, the sound of something screaming past them from behind so loudly it left Priscilla's ears ringing.

She opened her eyes and saw a projectile of some kind rocketing toward the Shadows. It was long and grey with a fire shooting out from behind, some kind of missile.

It stopped just between the two creatures and then erupted into a massive explosion that sent both monsters soaring away. One shooting straight upward, its body on fire, and the other straight down likewise set ablaze.

"Get on!" yelled a voice.

Wymond turned and coming up beside them was the Highwind, on the outdoor platform stood Chuck with some sort of large launcher on his shoulder and Shera standing beside him urging them to get on.

Wymond floated over and landed on the outdoor platform with Priscilla.

"Cid saw the second one and figured we'd need some more firepower," Shera said.

"Everything we need is on the ship; never stocked anything so fast in my life," Chuck said, "this thing is now a floating fortress."

Wymond nodded to him, "Good work."

Chuck shrugged, "That's my job."

"We should get to the bridge, those things are coming back," Shera warned, the Shadows were indeed turning back readying their revenge.

Chuck spun and fired the launcher on his shoulder and the projectile from it was the same as the previous one that had saved Wymond and Priscilla. It exploded again, this time one of the Shadows got out of range in time but the other was hit full on and dropped out of the air on fire yet again.

"There's some more time for us," Chuck said throwing the launcher overboard, "let's go."

They all charged toward the bridge and were standing there with Cid in a few moments.

The airship turned and the two Shadows were visible straight ahead coming toward them.

"Chuck, activate the new stuff, now's a good a time as any!" Cid growled.

Chuck nodded and hit a few buttons on a console.

Outside, the Highwind was suddenly covered entirely by a light green coat of something that appeared to be crystal like and scaled as if it was the skin of a lizard of some kind.

"What is that?" asked Wymond.

"A new armour I've developed, I call it Dragon Skin," Chuck said, "it's a powerful alloy created by mixing Materia with regular metal, reinforcing a ship's ability to sustain damage by something like two hundred percent!"

They all looked at Chuck; he appeared very excited that his new invention was getting tested.

He looked around at their stares, "Well…hypothetically, it hasn't been tested yet."

"It's about to be," Cid growled activating the ship's weapons, "hang on to something, it's about time someone blew these bastards into a lot of _very small pieces!_"


	17. Dragon Skin

**Chapter 16**

**Dragon Skin**

The Highwind went into a nose dive just in time for the Shadow to pass overhead and miss the airship. The second Shadow came on and slammed head first into the port side.

The entire bridge trembled but everything appeared to be intact.

"That didn't even damage the ship," Cid said looking at Chuck.

"The Dragon Skin works," Chuck said smiling, "I knew it would of course."

Cid turned the Highwind so it was face to face with the oncoming Shadow, Cid opened up with the ship's weapons and a wave of bullets and missiles drove into the Shadow. The impact of the combined weapons forced the creature to drop out of the air and fall toward water.

Cid knew he had to try and ration the weaponry this time; he now had two enemies to worry about. He hoped silently that he had loaded enough ammunition to take the things out.

The Highwind went into a series of turns and dives that one wouldn't think the ship was capable of. She was more agile than she looked.

The second Shadow came to a stop a few feet from the Highwind and instead of ramming; the creature fired a constant beam of black from one of the spikes on its left wing.

The Highwind took the full brunt of the beam and it appeared to be literally pushed a few feet to the side by the force of the attack.

"How's the Dragon Skin?" asked Cid steadying himself.

"That was a serious hit, definitely put a crack in it but it's still stable," Chuck said looking at the console that obviously monitored the armour.

"How did you make such a powerful armour?" asked Wymond, he was a bit impressed by the ability of the armour to block attacks so well.

"Actually it was Shera's theory, the mixing Materia and metal thing," Chuck said, "I just used my usual tools and trial and error until it worked…can't believe I never thought of it before."

"You make it sound simple," Wymond said, "it can't be easy to intertwine Materia and regular alloys."

"Well, like I said, it was mostly trial and error," Chuck said, "about two weeks worth of trying different things and I found the right combination, didn't get much sleep those two weeks."

Wymond just shook his head; he had never really expected anyone to make such a thing from Materia.

"Shera was around, so I had four hands on the job too," Chuck said shrugging.

"Hang on!" Cid yelled suddenly throwing the ship to starboard; another of those black beams just barely missed the airship.

Cid brought the Highwind straight again and headed back toward one of the Shadows. He had been trying running at them and firing weapons but it was taking too long, Cid needed a new plan.

"Chuck, tell me you installed something with a bigger boom than this conventional stuff," Cid growled.

"It's hard to name them all," Chuck said, "they aren't all installed but I got a few on before we left."

"That's what I like to hear," Cid said smiling.

"I suggest the small blue button to your right," Chuck said.

Cid nodded and looked around the console, there were also some other buttons and levers he had never seen before, he knew they were weapons.

Cid looked up to see the Shadow was still ahead and hit the blue button.

From the right and left sides of the ship two very thin looking pieces of metal broke off and were propelled forward by small jets.

"What the hell are those little things gonna do?" asked Cid looking at Chuck.

Chuck smiled, "I knew you would say something like that, everyone should probably avert their eyes."

"Avert their…it's just two little pieces of…" the two thin metal pieces hit the Shadow and exploded into a massive ball of flame quickly accompanied by an extremely bright flash.

Cid staggered back and rubbed his eyes; when he opened them he could still see the residual light from the flash even though the explosion and flash were done.

Wymond took his hand off his eyes and watched the Shadow drop limply to the water and disintegrate. The guardian looked to Chuck, "What was in those explosives?"

"A mixture of Trinitrotoluene and some nuclear material created by doing some experimentation with atoms," Chuck said, everyone looked at him blankly. "Uh, it's made of some stuff that when mixed properly make an extremely powerful explosion?"

Cid nodded, "That I can understand."

The ship trembled again violently as the remaining Shadow rammed into the starboard side of the Highwind. Cid turned to face the creature but it was already around to the port side and firing another black beam.

"Sucker just got real fast," Cid muttered fighting with the ship's controls to try and catch sight of the monster.

"It's angry," Wymond said, "your airship is too slow to keep up with it."

"We could fight it from the platform," Shera suggested.

"I think that looks like our only option," Chuck said.

"You keep the Highwind moving as best you can, I'll handle the rest," Wymond said.

"I'll go grab a little something to help you along your way," Chuck said running off to where he stored all the uninstalled weaponry.

Wymond headed toward the outdoor platform.

"Try to hold on to the hilt of the sword this time," Priscilla said.

Wymond looked back and then looked to his bloodied right hand, "I will."

The guardian was outside on the platform just as Chuck exited the ship. The man was carrying a very large gun with that looked like a belt with bullets on it hanging from the weapon.

Chuck set the huge weapon up on the railing of the platform and looked to Wymond.

"This sucker spits around ten thousand bullets a minute so when the sucker flies by the torrent will keep him pretty well in place for a few seconds," Chuck said.

"You think that gun will hold the creature entirely still?" asked Wymond doubtfully.

"I do, just get ready to jump on," Chuck said and aimed the gun around.

After only a few moments the Shadow appeared in view, it was heading for the outdoor platform, it must have known two easier targets were there.

As the Shadow charged toward them Chuck pointed the heavy gun at it.

They waited.

When the monster was a few feet from the platform and within jumping range for Wymond, Chuck opened fire.

The weapon's shots were like thunderclaps or possibly the sound of a million explosions going off all at once. The constant stream of bullets drove into the creature and it almost immediately buckled under the pressure of the attack. The gun was almost throwing Chuck off his feet as it fired, his glasses vibrated so badly eventually they just fell off his nose.

Indeed, though, the force of the bullets was completely reversing the momentum of the Shadow and it did appear to be completely stopped in its tracks.

Wymond noticed the bullets on the belt that were constantly running into the gun's chamber and being fired were disappearing quickly. He drew his sword and jumped on to the railing of the platform and then immediately hopped right across and on to the Shadow's back.

Chuck's powerful machine gun finally ran out of ammo. The man shook his head, feeling a bit dizzy from the vibrations of the gun and managed to stagger over to pick up his glasses.

The Shadow, realizing the barrage had stopped, attempted to continue its attack but there was a new distraction.

Wymond stabbed his Masamune Blade into the monster's back and it cried out, attempting to do what it, or its late companion, had tried to do before, it turned upside down trying to throw Wymond off; he used the embedded sword again to hold on to…the hilt this time.

The guardian didn't plan on letting the Shadow try and right itself. He put his left hand on one of the flat sides of the blade and closed his eyes.

Suddenly a stream of electricity flowed from his arm, to the blade and then up into the Shadow. The Masamune Blade acted as the perfect conduit to transport the deadly electricity right inside the Shadow.

The monster could only take a few seconds of the magical attack before it exploded entirely, the pieces disintegrated before ever touching the water below.

As the smoke and other residue of the explosion dissipated, Wymond was left floating in the air where the Shadow had once been.

Wymond landed back on the outdoor platform, Chuck apparently had gone back inside. Wymond was alone, and the sound of the air rushing by was almost soothing.

Seems he had finally found his quiet place, he sheathed his sword and closed his eyes.

He sent as much information as he had gathered up till now to Aeris and hoped he could at least tell her something she didn't already know. He was sure once she knew that a group of renegade Cetra were involved she would understand fully the gravity of their situation.

Back underwater in the Forgotten City Wymond had learned of the man behind the tampering of time. Though he hadn't had enough time to discover what exactly his plans were Wymond did learn a few things.

The first important thing was that someone he both had heard of and knew personally was behind it all. The leader of a group of rebellious Cetra called the Outcasts. Wymond hadn't expected to see Feardorcha's face when he entered the water, but that was who he saw.

He also learned that because Fear was a Cetra he would be aware that Wymond had searched him out via the Forgotten City and had identified him. Though, Wymond knew Feardorcha, and he knew the man wouldn't care whether the guardian knew of his existence or not.

As Wymond concluded sending his message he turned and headed inside the Highwind. He was back on the bridge.

"Well done, that's probably the best explosion I've ever seen without an actual explosive," Chuck said grinning.

"Thank you," Wymond replied.

"I was thinking," Cid said, "Shera and Chuck here obviously have some talents and might be able to help us kill this Ancient Black bastard."

"We need as much help as we can get," Wymond said, "it is of course dangerous, once we explain what is happening you will understand just how dangerous."

"If you don't kill this thing, will it destroy the planet?" asked Chuck.

"Yes," Wymond replied.

"Well, I'm in," Chuck said shrugging.

"I go where Cid goes," Shera added.

"Alright, why don't you fill them in guardian-boy," Cid suggested.

Wymond did so, skillfully condensing a day's worth of incidents into about twenty minutes.

By the time the guardian was done Cid had stopped off on some detours and they were a few minutes away from the black building.

"Time travel and alternate dimensions," Chuck muttered after Wymond had finished. "This can't end well for us."

"If we destroy this creature, the Ancient Black, then we will have destroyed the danger," Wymond said, leaving out the fact it was all on a much larger scale now. As far as the others knew the solution to all the problems would be killing the Ancient Black. This, however, was only the solution for their own existence…the Outcasts' plans would affect every existence and more.

Wymond didn't tell them this; they didn't need to know, not yet. The Outcasts hadn't come, no, telling them would only complicate matters.

The stopping of Feardorcha and his Outcasts would have to be left to Cloud and Aeris; they were the only ones in a position to fight the renegades.

A Cetra and a man Wymond knew nothing about against an entire army.

Things did look as if they couldn't end well at all.

"Heads up people, something's happening!" Cid yelled as the ship began to tremble violently as if it had been hit.

The vibrations were too constant; however, nothing was hitting the airship.

Wymond closed his eyes and opened them almost immediately.

"Cid, turn the ship toward the Northern Crater," Wymond said.

"What, the Crater?" asked Cid. "That's miles away."

"Just do it!" Wymond growled.

Cid looked at the guardian curiously and then did so, as the ship faced toward where the Northern Crater would be they saw what Wymond had expected to see.

"Oh, now what the hell is that?" asked Cid shaking his head.

"The Ancient Black's red carpet," Wymond muttered.

Though they obviously couldn't see the Crater itself, being so far away, the column of what appeared to be jet black smoke was visible.

"I gather you and your friends have not had any good experiences at that Crater?" asked Wymond.

"Not one I can think of, why?" asked Cid.

Wymond stared off at the smoke, "You may have to add another bad experience to your list I'm afraid."


	18. Walking on Water

**Chapter 17**

**Walking on Water**

Cloud, Sam and Aeris pulled themselves out of the water and up on shore again, the Outcast ships had headed back toward the other continent and the area was left devoid of life.

The three of them were literally the only living beings left, no sign of life ever existing near or around Costa Del Sol was evident.

"We have to get across the water," Aeris said looking at the black crater which used to be the sunny resort.

"I'll work on that, you two settle somewhere, it might take a while," Sam said.

Cloud and Aeris stared a while longer at the scant remains of the resort and then just sat down.

"It seems unnecessary," Cloud said suddenly, "whatever they wanted hadn't been there, why destroy the entire resort?"

"They just don't care," Aeris replied, "if the Outcasts have their way existence itself here will cease. Destroying a town doesn't make any difference if everyone on this planet will suddenly become nonexistent."

"I guess they're attacking Midgar for the same reason they attacked here," Cloud said.

"Midgar is still intact in this existence, which means Shinra would still hold some influence. Whatever the Outcasts might want it's likely Shinra has it hidden, or has it and don't know they do," Aeris explained.

"Even if we get across the water, we don't know what we're looking for," Cloud said, "how do we know what to stop them from getting, even if we knew, how could we stop an army?"

Aeris shook her head, "The same way you defeated Sephiroth I suppose."

Cloud looked at her and then back at the destroyed resort. He had a feeling this would turn out worse than anything they'd faced with Sephiroth.

Aeris turned to Cloud and smiled, "How do you get your hair to stay like that?"

"What?" Cloud asked.

"I've always wanted to ask you," Aeris said running a hand through his soaked hair. "Even when it's completely covered with water your hair keeps the spiked look, how do you get it to do that?"

"Same way you get yours to stay the same I guess," Cloud replied looking up at her hand which she removed from his hair.

She laughed, "My hair's got nothing to flatten it's nothing like yours."

Cloud ran a hand through her hair, "It's wet and it looks the same."

"That doesn't count," she said almost absent mindedly as she looked into his eyes. "My hair's different."

She realized they were sitting a lot closer to one another than she thought.

They sat in silence for a while, then Cloud suddenly turned to look behind him, Sam was standing a few feet away.

"Oh, come on," Sam said shaking his head, "all this crap, you have your chance, and you _both_ chicken out! Not one of you even tried to initiate the kiss, what's wrong with you people?"

Sam walked over to them looking exasperated, "I pretend I have to walk far away to do what I need to, I stand out there for ten minutes longer than necessary. I _tell_ Cloud that he can have you all to his self and _still_ nothing gets done, now I don't blame my skills as a matchmaker, you two are just slow. For God's sake, everyone's waiting for it, she's back from the dead, freaking kiss her will you!"

For a moment neither of them could respond.

"Ah, forget it, it's all wasted, there might never be another lull in the action!" Sam said. "I don't get it, she loves you, you've obviously got the hots for her, what else do you people need?"

"Sam, shut up," Aeris said.

"_Fine_, let's just go to Junon," Sam said waving a hand at them dismissively and walking toward the water.

"On what?" asked Cloud standing up.

"Your feet," Sam replied, "it won't be as fast as a boat but we can walk across the water."

"Sam, doing that kind of thing could…" Aeris began.

"_Kill me_, I know, you say that so much, would you leave it alone, nothing I've done has killed me yet," Sam said, "I found a loophole, as usual, come on."

"Walk on the water?" asked Cloud.

"In theory Sam has the ability to twist elements," Aeris said, "he can make the surface of the water buoyant enough to let us walk on it, but manipulating an element this large and for as long as we need it runs the risk of draining him entirely of energy."

"Whereupon I will be sucked back to the Lifestream and you two losers are left to swim the rest of the way," Sam said amiably, "_har-di-har-har."_

"I could levitate us some of the way," Aeris suggested.

"Honey, you've left out one important part of your definition of my ability," Sam said, "you forgot the part about where I use the loophole I found in this existence's continuum to drain energy from the planet and use it to walk the entire way."

"You're going to use this planet's energy?" asked Aeris.

"Isn't that in the Cetra 'list of things you shouldn't do?'" asked Cloud.

Sam smiled and pointed at Cloud, "Good one, I knew you'd get the idea, see, a sense of humour, very good, very good. Yes, although the Cetra don't actually have a _list of things you shouldn't do_ it is frowned upon."

"You're gonna do it anyways?" asked Cloud.

"Do I look like I really care if I'm frowned upon, I eat frowns for breakfast," Sam said, "now let's go before Aeris gets all emotional because she can hear the planet crying: _no, please, don't walk on my water, you'll get it all dirty with your muddy boots_!"

Cloud and Aeris walked to the shore, Sam gestured for them to follow and then he stepped out to the water. When his feet should have sunk in they instead seemed to stand literally on top of the water.

"I'd say come on in the water's nice, but I wouldn't know," Sam started dancing around on top of the water, his feet making small splashes, "_because I'm not in the water_!"

Aeris closed her eyes and shook her head at Sam as she too found herself walking on top of the liquid.

Then all three of them were making their way toward the other continent, walking on the surface of the water.

"If you look to your left you'll see…water," Sam said, "and if you look to your right, you might be able to catch a fleeting glimpse of…_more water_!"

They ignored him and kept walking.

"You realize that if at some point I accidentally forgot to keep us buoyant we'd all be swimming in the middle of a very large body of water," Sam said, "it's just so nice to see you two trust me so much."

"What exactly are we going to do once we catch up with the Outcasts?" asked Cloud ignoring Sam yet again.

"Well, I suppose we'll kill them," Sam said nonchalantly, "you could do that Cloud, Aeris and I will sit back with a bag of popcorn and watch the show."

"There're gonna be a lot of them aren't there?" asked Cloud.

"Nothing you can't handle, you've fought harder enemies," Sam said smiling, "you'd think you'd never seen Advent Children before, these guys are…"

"Advent Children?" asked Cloud.

"Yeah, you know the computer animated movie with…" Sam stopped walking suddenly, "…_oh, right_…don't ask me to explain that one," Sam chuckled, "that would be _way_ too confusing for you!"

Cloud just shook his head.

"Anyways, you got a feel for them back at Costa Del Sol, they're pushovers without their flashy airships and explosives," Sam said shrugging.

"That's not quite what I gathered from our meeting," Cloud said, "but if there had been any more of them we wouldn't have stood a chance."

"Most of them are very good warriors," Aeris told Cloud, "all of them have the powers of the Cetra."

"They're not invincible, however," Sam added quickly, "as you've seen, their asses are _kickable_."

"How do you know so much about these guys?" asked Cloud.

"I know things," Sam said shrugging.

"Who was that man?" asked Aeris.

"Mardra?" asked Sam.

Aeris nodded.

"I also know _people_," Sam replied cryptically.

"Where do you know an Outcast from?" asked Aeris.

"Can't a guy have secrets?" asked Sam.

"No," Aeris replied quickly.

"I'm sorry, who died and made you the ruler of what people can and can't have?" asked Sam.

Aeris just looked away from him and muttered something under her breath…she did that a lot with Sam.

They walked for about an hour, though none of them were really timing, finally, after a long inconvenient walk, Junon Harbour appeared ahead.

"Solid ground again," Sam said, the first word spoken in a very quiet hour. "I've gotten so used to the water I almost can't give it up…nope, I'm over it, let's get off the liquid and go."

They finally hit the shore; they stepped off the water and on to a beach which Cloud and Aeris recognized.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Junon Harbour, please exit carefully," Sam said, "next stop, Midgar, all aboard."

"This beach," Cloud said.

"Mr. Dolphin," Aeris said smiling.

"Oh yeah, with the CPR thing," Sam said, "that was awkward, more or less than dressing up like a girl I'm not sure. Cloud was used to that kind of stuff by then, though."

"Let's get to Midgar and find out what the hell is going on here," Cloud said.

"It's still pretty far from here," Aeris said, "I can levitate us over the caves and the swamp area, though, so that'll save time."

"Just glad we don't have to try and get another Chocobo," Cloud muttered.

"Well, let's go before all our friends leave the party," Sam said.

The three left Junon and headed out immediately toward Midgar, as they got closer Cloud attempted to prepare some sort of plan to find out what they were actually looking for but got nowhere.

"I can see those brain cells burning up in your mind, buddy," Sam said to Cloud, "my advice: don't worry about it until we get there, we can't do anything until we see our enemies."

"There has to be a way to find out what they're here for," Cloud said.

"We'll find out, but there's no way to discover the answer out here, we have to get to Midgar first," Aeris said.

"Sometimes the girl knows what she's talking about," Sam said smiling.

They encountered no resistance on their way toward Midgar, Cloud figured the presence of the Outcasts would have scared away all of the monsters that roamed the area.

Aeris used her levitating ability to get them over obstructions.

Within twenty minutes Midgar was in sight.

"There she is, good old Midgar," Sam said, "alive and kicking, or at least getting kicked."

There appeared to be many airships surrounding the city, a few were still firing weapons down on Midgar but most were just hovering in place…waiting.

"Wait, look at that one," Aeris said pointing.

They all saw what she saw, one of the airships seemed to be headed directly toward Shinra Headquarters.

"It's not gonna be able to stop," Cloud said.

"Looks like someone wants to get in badly," Sam said, "care to find out who?"

"Maybe they know something we don't," Aeris said.

"It's the only lead we've got at this point," Cloud added, "how do we get in?"

"First we walked on water," Sam said, "I think we're ready for another magical feat care of yours truly."

"What did you have in mind?" asked Cloud.

"Walking through walls," Sam replied matter-of-factly.

"Alright," Cloud said nodding; at this point he wouldn't question any of Samael's ideas, "let's do it."

The three ran toward Midgar, now constantly on a vigilant lookout for any Outcasts that may have stayed outside of Midgar, they spotted none.

They ran until they came right up to the wall that separated Midgar from the outer world.

"Give me a second or two," Sam said, "if you guys wanna try that kiss thing again while I'm preoccupied go ahead."

Aeris and Cloud looked at each other.

"Just get us through the wall," Aeris replied.

Sam shrugged, "Your loss."

Sam examined the wall and executed the necessary rule-breaking steps to make the wall intangible.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, I will now turn this wall into a door!" Sam exclaimed.

Aeris walked toward the wall and tried to step through but instead she ran into it and bounced back, she stared at Sam angrily.

"I didn't say go, did I?" asked Sam. "If I had said 'go' then you would know to walk through the wall, and I distinctly remember not saying any kind of word like 'go.'"

"Sam, open up the wall before she kills you," Cloud suggested.

"Alright, you're all so hostile, take a chill pill," Sam said and kicked the wall with his right foot. "Okay, it's good, go ahead."

Aeris began to move toward the wall but suddenly stopped and looked at Sam, "You go first."

"I'm hurt…really, Aeris, beautiful, you don't trust me?" asked Sam.

"Should I?" asked Aeris.

Sam smiled and put a hand on the wall, it was still solid, "No, you shouldn't, good call."

Aeris opened her mouth to say something uncharacteristically mean to Sam but he snapped his fingers and jumped through the wall before she could. Cloud and Aeris followed suit.

They appeared on the other side, Cloud had no idea where they were.

"I've never been to this sector before," Cloud said.

"Me neither," Aeris added.

"That's fine, we're headed upward anyways," Sam said. "Fly, fly, little birdie."

"Stand still, I'll float us up to where…" Aeris was interrupted by a loud noise that sounded like a mixture of a lot of breaking glass, grinding metal and something big smashing into something else.

"Up to where that airship just rammed Headquarters would work I suppose, but hey," Sam said shrugging, "you're the pilot, sweetheart, your call."

Soon they had levitated above the upper plate and they were approaching the mess where the airship had collided with the building. Aeris set them down on the airship and they jumped off into the building via one of the many decimated windows.

Almost immediately Cloud caught sight of someone running around a corner down the hallway to his right.

"Someone just went that way," Cloud said gesturing down the hallway.

"The horrible drivers I assume," Sam said, "let's go check for their licenses shall we?"

The trio ran down the hallway and turned, the figure he'd seen turn the corner had become three figures. Three figures now trapped at a dead end.

"This door is locked down with an almost indestructible metal when the building is considered to be in danger," said one of the three figures down the hall.

Cloud, Sam and Aeris moved toward them slowly, not yet knowing if they were friend or foe.

A somehow familiar gruff voice spoke, "There's no way we can get through this, we'll need another way in."

"Vincent," Cloud muttered, "Vincent's here."

"It sounds like him," Aeris agreed.

As they came closer they realized well enough that it was Vincent standing with two people who looked to be scientists.

"They're friends," Cloud confirmed.

"I know of Vinny Valentine," Sam said nodding, "well, everybody here knows everybody, let's go say hello."

The female scientist shook her head, "It'll take too long to go around, we need to get in there now."

"We can't possibly get past this door, Lucrecia," the other scientist replied.

"Actually," Sam said to the three who turned immediately, all pointing weapons at him, "I think we might be able to assist you with that little problem. One might say I have a thing for walking through solid objects."


	19. The Star Effect

**Chapter 18**

**The Star Effect**

Feardorcha growled and slammed a fist down on the control console of his airship; it seemed as if the entire ship shook when he did.

Charna turned quickly to look at Fear.

"The hell do you mean someone ran an airship into the Shinra building?" asked Fear in outrage. "How the hell did they get _on_ one of our airships, Corta?"

Charna shook her head slightly and returned to what she was doing.

"No, don't worry about the ship, just get the damn Materia!" Fear yelled and cut the communication.

"Problem?" it was Charna who asked the stupid question.

"Someone just stole one of our ships and rammed it into Shinra Headquarters," Fear replied angrily.

"Why would they do that?" asked Charna.

"I don't know, why, do I look psychic?" asked Fear rhetorically.

Charna ignored him, she had quickly gotten used to how Feardorcha got when something went wrong.

"One can't really _look_ like a psychic, Fear," said a voice.

Fear looked to his left and saw a man entering the bridge with a group of Outcasts behind him.

"Mardra, why aren't you on the planet?" asked Fear.

"I heard you were in town, thought I'd drop by," replied Mardra.

"Do you have the Cetra?" asked Fear.

"We've narrowed it down, he could only be at Midgar," Mardra said. "We also tested the staff, works well."

"I didn't give you authorization to use the staff," Fear growled.

"Oh, my dear Feardorcha, it was only a small resort," said an old man beside Mardra, "and it worked quite well."

"I told you not to use it until necessary," Fear said.

"Old Alden here wanted to try it, he only summoned one," Mardra replied.

"Don't use it again until I authorize it," Fear said firmly.

"Alright, I'll make sure to keep it away from the old geezer then," Mardra said disarmingly, "what's your problem, coffee cold this morning?"

Charna laughed a little but stifled it; cold coffee did set Feardorcha off quite a bit in reality.

"It's amazing she can put up with you," Mardra said gesturing toward Charna.

"Get back on the planet and find the Cetra," Fear said ignoring the Outcast.

"We have the White Materia?" asked Mardra.

"Shortly," Fear replied, "there're some new enemies down there giving us trouble."

Mardra nodded, "I happened to meet some personally."

Fear looked curious, "Who?"

"There were three, most notable was Samael," Mardra replied.

"Samael?" asked Charna looking over in shock.

Mardra was smiling, "Uh oh, the old lover and the new lover on different sides."

"Did he say why he was here?" asked Charna.

"I didn't really pursue the question that much, you're wondering if he's here for you?" inquired Mardra looking at Charna.

"Find out why," Fear said quickly cutting off anything else from Mardra.

"There were two others with him, guy with spiked hair and a big sword," Mardra said, "and a girl, I know she was a Cetra, but who exactly she was I'm not sure."

"Female Cetra?" asked Fear.

"Not an Outcast?" asked Charna.

"No, but she was wearing dark clothing and sunglasses," Mardra replied.

Fear shrugged, "It doesn't matter."

"Kind of contrasted with the pink ribbon in her hair, pretty girl, almost killed me with my own bullet though," Mardra growled.

"Pink ribbon?" asked Fear suddenly interested.

"Yeah," replied Mardra, "bracelet thing on her wrist, too."

"Could it be her?" asked Charna.

"Only her brother is alive in this existence, she must have been brought back in Centre Time," Fear said.

"Someone gonna fill me in here?" asked Mardra.

"Aeris," Fear said, "her name is Aeris, and she was the last of us, with the exception of this existence."

"The one that got stabbed?" asked Mardra.

"The same," Fear replied.

"Cool, so then can't we just use her instead of her brother?" asked Mardra.

"No, she's been brought back, much like Samael, we need one that is alive in this existence," Fear said and then paused, "but…bring her to me as well."

"Why?" asked Mardra.

"She is the last Cetra, a Queen among insects, she may understand our cause," Fear said.

"She is traveling with the enemy you realize?" asked Mardra.

"Once she realizes what we are trying to accomplish she may change her mind," Charna said.

"If we could convince her to join us our plans would go much smoother," Fear said nodding.

"And if she doesn't co-operate we kill her?" asked Mardra.

"No," Fear said quickly, "no, we couldn't do that."

"What?" asked Mardra incredulously.

"She is a fellow Cetra, we couldn't possibly kill her," Fear said, "she is the last of us, our last surviving connection to the real world long ago."

Mardra still couldn't believe what he was hearing but didn't question his leader.

"I'll make sure they're both on this ship shortly," Mardra said as he and his crew left the bridge.

§

With help from Cloud and Aeris the situation was explained somewhat and they were all quickly on the same page.

"How did you end up here, Vincent?" asked Cloud.

"I was almost killed by one of the black creatures in the Forgotten City," Vincent said.

"Under water?" asked Sam, Vincent nodded. "If time's unstable where you were then the magical properties in the water probably brought you here by accident."

"Aeris has a brother, as well," Vincent said, the two had been acquainted a few moments before.

"Nothing surprises me anymore," Cloud said shaking his head.

"Do either of you three know why these Outcasts want me?" asked Gast.

"The Cetra they were looking for," Sam muttered putting it together, "no idea, none of us really know what exactly their plans are. I know the Outcasts; their goal will ultimately be the resurrection of the Cetra."

"That's crazy," Lucrecia said.

"You're not trapped in a Mako Crystal and the last surviving Cetra hasn't died yet," Sam said, "everything's crazy, problem is, crazy is the only logic with time travel and alternate existences."

Lucrecia could think of no response.

"So, what now?" asked Gast.

"Well, now you come with us," said a voice down the hall, they all turned to see Mardra and a group of Outcasts blocking the only way out of the corridor.

Vincent and Cloud drew weapons.

"I doubt either of you have weapons quite as accurate as mine at this range," Mardra said aiming his scope-attached rifle, "Last Breath here could kill you all before any of you got a shot, so drop the weapons."

"Do it," Sam muttered, "I've seen that rifle work."

"I have to say," Mardra said nodding for the others to go collect the weapons, "I thought it'd be harder to sneak up on you guys. I guess you were just a little too preoccupied."

"What do you want the Cetra for Mardra?" asked Sam.

"Actually I want two," Mardra said. "The boss wants to see her as well."

Sam looked at Aeris and back at Mardra, "Why?"

"He's a real big fan, now come on before I kill everyone around you," Mardra said.

Aeris and Gast started walking slowly toward Mardra.

Sam tapped Cloud on the shoulder and whispered, "Let this play out, I got an idea."

Cloud watched Aeris walk toward the enemy and shook his head, "I hope so."

As she walked by, Aeris kicked an approaching Outcast and used her foot again to kick Vincent's gun across the floor to him.

One of the other Outcasts there hit her across the face with the hilt of his sword, and then grabbed her and Gast as Vincent began firing.

"That's okay," Mardra said, "I was going to kill them anyways."

Mardra's rifle fired, bullets flew at a constant rate and the gun appeared to hold an unrealistic amount of bullets.

"Not…" growled Sam throwing his hands up in front of him, every bullet stopped in mid-air in front of them, this appeared to put physical strain on him, "…today, asshole."

"Next time, Samael," Mardra growled, he and his group disappeared with Aeris and Gast.

Sam put his hands down and the bullets fell uselessly to the ground, he dropped to a knee and started breathing heavily.

"You okay?" asked Cloud.

"That gun…" Sam said breathlessly, "…very hard to block."

"That was amazing, you actually stopped the bullets!" Lucrecia exclaimed.

"That's not the best…" Sam gasped, "…of my skills…baby."

Sam fell over and leaned against the wall closing his eyes.

"We have to find out where they took them," Vincent said holstering his revolver.

"Hang on a few minutes," Sam said shaking his head and appearing to recover, "I said I had a plan, I meant it."

§

Mardra and his prisoners appeared on the bridge of the _Cetra Resurrection_, Feardorcha and Charna turned and saw their two new guests.

"It is her," Fear muttered in surprise.

"When I said he was a fan," Mardra said to Aeris, "I really wasn't joking."

"You have no idea how…" Fear paused as he looked at Aeris, "…who hit her?"

The small cut on her face from the hilt of the sword must have been a lot more apparent to Fear than the others.

Mardra pointed to the guy who did it, "She kicked one of our guys and tried to get a weapon to one of her friends."

Fear drew a dagger from his black coat and nonchalantly tossed it, it landed right between the Outcast's eyes and he dropped to the floor.

Mardra looked at the dead Outcast, "Somehow, I knew that was going to happen."

"I apologize, it was not my intent to bring you here on such terms," Fear said to Aeris.

"What terms exactly were you hoping for?" asked Gast.

"Ah, the brother is the outspoken one," Fear said, "I had expected different."

"How do you know me?" asked Aeris.

"How could I not, you were the last of us to survive," Fear said, gesturing to Gast, "except for him in this existence. You are like royalty to us."

"Do you usually kidnap royalty?" asked Gast.

"It was necessary," Fear replied, "we knew you would consider us enemies."

"Well, you haven't dispelled that theory quite yet," Gast said.

"No, I suppose not," Fear gestured toward another door on the bridge, "please, come this way."

"Prison cells?" asked Gast.

"Prison cells?" asked Fear laughing. "I have no prisons on my ship, I would not invite prisoners here I only would have you as fellow Cetra."

"Why am I so special?" asked Aeris. "My mother was the last full blooded Cetra."

"The fraction of blood means nothing, you are still Cetra, Aeris," Fear said, "the last…you are a Queen among insects here."

"Well, it appears she isn't so well-received by all of you," Gast commented nodding to the dead Outcast on the floor.

"Some of them don't know of you; for that I apologize, everyone should know your name," Fear said, "now please, follow me."

Gast looked sidelong at his sister who just grinned a little and shrugged.

They followed Fear right into the adjoined room, it was pitch black.

"Some lights please," Fear side, immediately lights came on and the room was revealed.

The walls were a plain brown colour and the only thing in the room other than them was a large circular table that appeared to have some kind of picture on it. The picture was round and only a little bit smaller than the table itself.

"This is the Star Room," Fear told them, "come to the table."

They did so.

The picture was actually a yellow star on a white background.

"This is a diagram, essentially, of existence itself," Fear said smiling.

"You drew a star and called it a map of existence," Gast said, "well, now we're fairly certain on the delusions of grandeur."

Aeris chuckled a little; Gast just wouldn't stop with the remarks. She could see him being her brother somehow. He was her more aggressive half.

"This has been created on the knowledge of many scholarly Cetra I assure you," Fear continued unfazed. "The five points of the star indicate what we call the Main Existences. North Point Existence, East Point Existence, West Point Existence, Bottom Point Existence Alpha, Bottom Point Existence Beta, and in the very centre of the star, the most important: Centre Time."

Aeris began to see where this was going but still didn't know enough.

"You see," Fear continued, "each of these Main Existences can in some way affect all other existences. As you may or may not know, our plan involves seizing control of every existence possible. To do this by taking every single existence one by one would be impossible."

"You and your people would either be stopped or would be run down to so few allies you couldn't continue," Aeris said.

"Exactly, so we knew we needed a more practical way, to kill all those birds with only a handful of stones," Fear said, "and the Star Effect was just what we needed."

"The Star Effect," Gast said nodding, "catchy."

"All we have to do is seize control of all of the points on the star and gain access into Centre Time," Fear said, "then once we are there we can enact our final plan."

"Why can't you just go to Centre Time now?" asked Gast.

"Where is Centre Time?" asked Aeris.

"Centre Time is where you and your friends are from, Aeris, whatever happens in these other existences has happened to you first because Centre Time is the time that decides all other existences. The continuum changes with distance and so other existences have major and minor differences. As for why we can't go there, because it's so important, the Cetra had it locked so no one from a different existence could simply walk in. The only way to unlock the door is to take the keys from every one of the points," Fear said.

Aeris and Gast looked to one another then back at Fear.

"There are artifacts placed on every point of the star that work as keys to opening the door to Centre Time. On the North Point was the Black Materia, we are now on our second Point, the East Point, it holds two very important items for us. The artifact: the White Materia, and the only actual surviving Cetra in any existence. You are necessary for us to open the door Professor Gast," Fear told them, "but most of all; we want our fellow Cetra to assist us in our ultimate goal."

"Ultimate goal being what?" asked Gast.

"The resurrection of all Cetra into Centre Time," Fear said smiling, "the chance for our people to once again rule the planet. I fight for a second chance for the Cetra."

Aeris and Gast looked at each other for the second time.

"And what happens in Centre Time happens in all other existences," Gast deduced, "so in effect if you bring back the Cetra there, they come back everywhere."

"Using the artifacts, such a dream can come true," Fear said, "I only ask for your help."

"What you _don't_ realize," said a voice that sounded a little out of energy, "is that doing something like that will create a paradox so big it could potentially destroy every form of life in every existence."

Everyone turned sharply to look to the voice, behind them stood a ragged, but very confident looking Samael.

"Hey, Fear," Sam said, "just came to collect my buddies."


	20. Corta

**Chapter 19**

**Corta**

Feardorcha went immediately for one of his many blades but Samael was quicker, he flicked his wrist and the lone table in the room, along with the picture of the star, popped off the ground and smashed into Fear. The Outcast leader was crushed between the table and the wall; he fell to the ground in a daze.

"Come on, we have to get on the bridge to get out of here, this room has some sort of magic dispelling shield," Sam explained.

"What about him?" asked Gast gesturing to the dazed Outcast leader.

"We should leave while he's off his feet," Sam said, "none of us here could defeat him, even if it was three on one."

They followed Sam out on to the bridge, the entire crew of Outcasts turned and looked at them, and some of them registered shock as these people clearly weren't Outcasts.

"Don't mind us," Sam said amiably, "just passing through."

"Samael," said a female voice; they didn't see the owner of the voice until she stepped into view in front of them.

"Charna," Sam said, his voice taking on an unusual attribute that deviated from his usual sarcasm.

"It hasn't been long enough, I'm afraid," the woman replied bitterly.

"I guess it never will be," Sam replied.

Aeris placed the strangeness of his voice it was the hint of an emotion she had detected many times in a person but never from Samael. It sounded a bit like sadness.

"You know I can't let you leave, Sam," Charna said, with a hint of apology.

"You couldn't let me stay either," Sam replied, this seemed to surprise Charna.

Behind his back Sam was doing something with his hand, Aeris couldn't make out what exactly.

"It's not like you cared," Charna replied.

"Oh, really, did you ever ask me if I cared?" asked Sam.

"We both know if I didn't you would," Charna replied.

"Let's get outta here," Sam said shaking his head and began to move his hand from behind his back.

"If I hadn't you know very well it would've been me who would get hurt," Charna said drawing her sword.

Sam stopped his hand and seemed to turn his eyes on her again, this time with a glare.

"I loved you," Sam said almost in a whisper.

"You say that now," Charna replied in a growl.

"I guess I could have said it more often," Sam muttered, "we're on different sides of this, there's no other option for us except to be enemies. See ya later, sweetheart."

Sam pulled his hand from behind his back and threw a small object on the ground, it flashed brightly, temporarily blinding Aeris and Professor Gast.

When their vision cleared they were no longer on the airship, in fact they weren't on any airship. They were back in the Shinra building it appeared, behind them stood the others Sam had left behind to wait for him.

"Welcome back," Vincent greeted.

"That was…interesting," Gast said thoughtfully.

"They told you their plan, why don't you fill everyone in?" suggested Sam turning and walking toward a doorway.

Aeris and Gast now noticed they were no longer in the hall but in a laboratory.

"What about you?" asked Gast.

"I already knew their plan, I just wasn't sure until now," Sam said.

"How could you know?" asked Cloud.

"I gave the idea to the Outcasts," Sam replied looking over his shoulder at them, "back when I used to be one."

"You were an Outcast?" asked Aeris in confusion.

"I was one of the few who realized what kind of destruction their plan could cause," Sam replied, "one of the fewer to survive defecting."

"That's how you knew so much about them," Aeris said.

"I know everything about them, if I didn't then we wouldn't have gotten away from the airship," Sam said. "That small device that flashed was specially attuned to disrupt the field around the bridge only, giving us enough time to get away."

"So then the question is, once we know what they want, what do we do about stopping it?" asked Vincent.

"I can tell you that," Sam said, "let Aeris and the Professor explain some things first."

As Aeris and Gast began to tell their story, detailing every event that occurred after they had been briefly captured, Sam walked out of the lab and back out into the hallway. The airship was still lodged in the decimated window; Sam jumped up on the airship and walked across the top until he found a suitable spot to sit.

He sat silently for an amount of time he wasn't sure of.

"Who was that woman?" asked Professor Gast walking up behind him carefully watching his step on the treacherous roof of the ship.

"Charna," Sam replied as Gast eased to sit beside him, "she and I were…"

Gast waited a few moments before filling in the blank, "Romantically involved?"

"Yeah," Sam said sadly.

"What happened?" asked Gast.

"Oh, you know, we wanted different things," Sam said dismissively, but then smiled, "she wanted to go off and resurrect the Cetra and I wanted to sit around and do nothing all day."

"She dumped you to go with the Outcasts?" asked Gast.

"Yeah, I joined for a while, probably in some foolish attempt to try and win her back," Sam replied, "when I realized she and her good buddy Fear weren't just good buddies anymore I thought of leaving the Outcasts. When I realized what exactly they were planning I knew I had to leave."

"And you two," Gast smiled, "can't still just be friends?"

Sam grinned, "Worst phrase ever, you'd think with all the advancements we'd have come up with something better. No, in fact we couldn't be anything other than enemies at that point."

"And you still love her?" asked Gast.

"I…" Sam seemed sure of his response at first but then paused as if considering another option, "…I'm not sure."

"So you could be," Gast said.

Sam didn't respond.

"That means you know of course that if it comes to it you probably won't be able to kill her," Gast continued.

"Hey, you can do that Cetra mind reading stuff to normal people," Sam said, "but I'm a Cetra, too, so you can be sure I know myself well enough I don't need you doing that Aeris thing."

"Sorry," Gast said, "you're right of course; I'm also not as experienced in the ways of being a Cetra as you are."

"Well, you've definitely got a good start," Sam said.

"Thank you," Gast replied.

"Hey, you two, it's time we started figuring out what to do," Lucrecia called from inside the building.

"You were with the Outcasts for a while, do you feel you have a connection with them as well?" asked Gast.

"Trust me, them, I could kill," Sam replied standing up.

"Just checking," Gast muttered.

The two entered back into the building and rejoined the others in the lab.

"You mentioned you may know which direction we should take to stop the Outcasts," Vincent said to Sam.

"We need to get the White Materia," Sam said.

Aeris nodded, "One of the artifacts they need to make the Star Effect do its job."

"It is here then?" asked Vincent.

"No," Sam replied, "they just think it is."

"So where is it?" asked Gast.

"Only Rufus knows," Sam replied, "that's why we need to find him before the Outcasts do."

"If he knows then we need to hurry, the Outcasts have a head start on us," Cloud said.

"Rufus is well guarded, if they are near him they're likely having trouble with the soldiers," Vincent said logically.

Sam nodded, "Tall, dark and brooding here knows what he's talking about. We back up Rufus' forces and save his ass; he tells us where the Materia is so we can protect it."

"He'll definitely trust Professor Gast," Lucrecia commented, "he'll tell him at least."

"That's good, because it is by no means safe with Shinra, they can't fight these guys like we can," Sam said.

"Rufus is at the top floor I would assume," Vincent said.

Sam nodded, "I'd bet money on it."

"It's still a long way up," Gast said looking up to the roof and imagining the distance between them and where Rufus resided in the Headquarters.

"Oh, come on," Sam said smiling, "by now you must have learned I'm not just another pretty face, stand still we'll be there in no time."

"Just don't teleport us into a wall or something," Aeris murmured.

"Here we go kids, hang on," Sam snapped his fingers and they were gone.

They reappeared where Sam had promised they would, Rufus' office, Cloud and the others recognized it well enough. Two stairways led upward to where they stood; in the seat behind them behind the big desk was where they saw Sephiroth's Masamune Blade embedded in the back of Rufus' father.

At the top of each of the two stairways stood groups of Shinra soldiers firing downward at unseen enemies, Rufus Shinra was on the left side stairway firing downward with his shotgun.

"President Shinra," Gast said running up behind him.

"What the hell is it…" Rufus looked at them and his voice came to a halt, "…Cloud?"

"Really long story, sir, we have something important to tell you," Gast said.

Rufus gave another confused look to Cloud, who should have been dead in this existence, and then back to Gast, "What is it Professor?"

"These men who are attacking are called the Outcasts," Gast began, "in short, they want the White Materia."

"Why?" asked Rufus.

"Some diabolical plan I'm sure," Gast replied hurriedly, "this man, he's a Cetra," Gast gestured to Sam, "he's been sent to protect the White Materia."

"I'm not sure where it is, but I know you must know," Sam said.

Rufus looked at them suspiciously.

"Sir, I realize I can't prove that…" Gast began.

"If we help you get rid of these dark-clad bastards will you trust us?" asked Sam.

Rufus nodded, "Very well, my men are being overrun, they are too powerful, these Outcasts."

"Alright, well, let's make a move on these guys," Sam said.

They all looked to Cloud.

"Through time and space," Sam said, "you're still the fearless leader."

"Sam and I will go down the left staircase," Cloud said, "Aeris and Vincent will go down the left. Gast and Lucrecia should stay on the stairs and use their guns to help the soldiers."

Everyone nodded.

"Let's freakin' do it!" Sam said running for the left hand staircase with Cloud.

Vincent walked toward the right hand stairs with Aeris and drew his revolver.

"Let's get this over with," Vincent muttered.

Cloud and Sam charged past Shinra soldiers and they both jumped off the stairs. They sailed through the air and caught their enemies by complete surprise. Cloud's sword tore through unsuspecting Outcasts.

Sam landed on the ground in a crouch and put his left hand flat on the ground.

"Have a seat gentlemen," Sam muttered, a barely visible ripple shot out from Sam's hand and every Outcast within the general area were thrown off their feet.

Vincent came down the stairs slowly, firing away with his pistol; every shot hit its target. One Outcast drew a throwing dagger and tossed it at Vincent. He effortlessly threw up his golden clawed hand and deflected the dagger, responding with a fatal shot to the thrower's chest.

The deflected dagger never got a chance to hit the ground as Aeris came up behind Vincent and hit it with her staff. A trail of bright green could be seen shooting out from behind the speeding dagger as it was redirected right into the forehead of an Outcast.

One Outcast saw Vincent and Aeris and began throwing a seemingly constant stream of daggers. Aeris caught sight of the storm of blades coming at them just in time.

She pushed Vincent aside and spun her staff in a constant three-sixty; it was so fast and consistent that every dagger was trapped in the momentum of the spin. Finally, when the last of the Outcast's daggers were trapped in Aeris' spinning staff, she let the daggers fly off in random directions.

Some daggers imbedded themselves in walls or other objects, but a good number did hit and kill Outcasts in the area.

Sam ducked under a sword and punched the Outcast in the stomach, he doubled over then Sam brought his right elbow down on the back of the Outcast's neck effectively knocking him unconscious. Sam turned in time to see an Outcast raising two pistols, the clips were much longer than the grips of the guns which told Sam one thing: automatics…trouble. He recognized the female Outcast well enough as well, Corta.

Corta was another attractive Outcast that Sam would have been interested in being involved with if he hadn't met Charna first. Corta had shoulder length blonde hair and was about as tall as Sam himself. She wasn't very physically well-built but Sam knew for a fact she did know how to use those automatic pistols quite well.

"Cloud, get down!" Sam yelled, hoping the man had heard.

Cloud dived to the ground without question just as a wave of bullets shot overhead.

"Corta," Sam said standing up and smiling, "I'm meeting so many old friends; it's like one big happy family reunion."

"Samael," Corta said holding back on firing, "what the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm getting asked that a lot lately," Sam said smiling.

"You're here to stop us, aren't you?" asked Corta.

"Fear warned you, eh?" asked Sam.

"Not really," Corta said, "just a precaution we all take."

"I guess you have to try and kill me," Sam said.

"Sorry," Corta said and pulled the trigger on both of her pistols.

Sam dived into a back flip and then a simultaneous roll that would have put Tifa's athletic feats to shame. Every single bullet shot by harmlessly…by inches some.

"Damn," Corta growled, quickly throwing fresh clips into her guns.

Sam used the little extra time he had to try and get nearer to Corta, he didn't get very far before the spray of bullets came toward him.

Suddenly, there was a crimson object in Sam's peripheral vision, as he turned a little to look he saw it was in fact Vincent landing beside him.

Vincent began firing his revolver faster than Sam thought the weapon looked to be able to fire. The larger bullets of the revolver managed to miraculously intercept every bullet fired from Corta's automatics. The impact of Vincent's bullets hitting Corta's shot sparks in the air and sent bullets ricocheting around the room.

Corta cursed again and hurried to reload her guns again. Just as she managed to slide in fresh clips she noticed how close Sam had gotten to her, he was only about two feet away now.

She struggled to ready the gun and raised it to fire, not bothering to aim she just fired blindly knowing he was close enough to hit.

Sam saw this coming and prepared himself, as the first bullet left the barrel and came at him Sam brought up his right hand which appeared to be shrouded in some kind of blue light. His hand hit the bullet and it was immediately redirected back at Corta.

She didn't get any other chances to fire as the very first bullet returned and drove itself through the bridge of her nose and out the back of her head. She dropped backwards letting the guns fall uselessly on the ground along with her body.

The rest of the Outcasts were cleared out soon after their commanding officer had been finished off by Sam. Without Corta it appeared they had lost the will to fight. Some of the Outcasts closer to exits managed to make a retreat.

Sam walked over to Corta who lay on her back, a small hole set in the area of her nose, her eyes left wide open. It was as if she was staring up at him in shock…asking "just where the hell do you get off shooting me in the head with my own bullet you ass?"

"Sorry, beautiful, this has all gone to hell," Sam said quietly to Corta. "On the bright side, you can't really die, you're already dead."

"Clear, Sam?" asked Cloud.

"Yeah, they're gone," Sam replied.

"They may be returning with a reserve force, we should learn the location of the Materia," Vincent said holstering his firearm.

"Yeah," Sam said, it was only recently, now that he knew Charna was here, that he felt any connection to these Outcasts, he realized it may turn out to be harder to kill them than he had hoped.

They returned upstairs where Gast and Lucrecia were talking with Rufus, as they noticed them coming up the stairs Gast headed toward them.

"The President says he had the Turks bring the White Materia to the ruins of the Temple of the Ancients," Gast said, "apparently he's been working on setting up a small secret outpost in and around the crater that used to be the Temple."

"As of now it is unfortunately lightly guarded by a few members of SOLDIER and some Turks," Rufus said. "It appears it would be safer in your hands, you're free to use one of the Shinra helicopters to get there."

"Finally," Sam said shaking his head, "don't know about you guys but I was getting a little tired of walking everywhere, especially over water and such."

"It will take a few minutes for me to stock your chopper, you may wait here if you like," Rufus said moving off toward a few soldiers.

"We appear to have our next destination," Vincent said.

"Oh, just gives you the shivers doesn't it?" asked Sam. "Just like the good old days for you guys, eh?"

Cloud looked at Aeris for a long moment, "Bad old days."


	21. White Materia

**Chapter 20**

**White Materia**

Feardorcha exploded out of the Star Room looking around angrily for his enemy, the bridge looked very calm.

"They got away, Fear," Charna said.

"How did he get past the shielding, how did he get in?" asked Fear.

"He used to be one of us, Fear, he could be the single most dangerous enemy we have," Charna said.

"Find him," Fear said, "I don't care what it takes, find him, he knows our plan."

"Well, whose fault is that, sir?" asked Mardra.

Fear spun and glared at Mardra, "Where the hell were you when Samael appeared on our ship, Mardra?"

"Preoccupied," Mardra replied amiably, "it was you who told our enemies the said plan, yes?"

"If you had kept Samael away I may have been able to convince them to help us!" Fear retorted.

"You know as well as I do, sir, that neither Aeris Gainsborough, nor her brother, had any intention of selling out their friends," Mardra said.

"If only I could have told them everything, then they may have seen it all differently," Fear growled, "if only you'd done your job and kept Samael off this ship!"

Fear drew a dagger from his coat and threw it at Mardra.

Mardra brought up his rifle and fired, the bullet hit the blade and both projectiles ricocheted harmlessly away.

"Now I know you're a little upset, sir, but if you do that kind of thing too often I might get insulted," Mardra said calmly.

Fear just growled again, realizing had Mardra not been as fast as he was he would have just killed one of his fellow commanding officers.

"You need to control yourself," Mardra said, "start using your head, Aeris is our enemy."

"I thought you didn't know her?" asked Charna.

"I know now," Mardra replied.

"How?" asked Charna.

"I Googled her, the hell do you care?" asked Mardra.

Charna disregarded the remark which he had picked up from an alternate existence they had visited recently.

The control console made a sudden beeping noise.

"It's Garen," Charna said.

"Hey, you guys there, what'd I miss?" asked Garen.

"Nothing, do you have the White Materia?" asked Fear.

"I think you're lying," Garen said.

"What?"

"I saw three particularly interesting Cetra appearing from where I assume was our ship," Garen replied.

"Don't worry about that, the Materia!" Fear said impatiently.

"Temple of the Ancients, Shinra's hiding it there," Garen said.

"Corta told you?" asked Fear.

"Not quite," Garen replied, "Corta's too dead at the moment; please leave a message after the gunshot wound."

"Damn it!" Fear growled.

"Fear's pissed I guess?" asked Garen.

"Of course," Charna replied.

"Was it them?" asked Fear.

"I don't know who did it, but whoever did used her own bullet against her," Garen said.

"How did you find out?" asked Charna.

"I followed our friends there," Garen said, "I'm looking at the said Temple right now. Well, lack thereof."

"Can you get the Materia?" asked Fear.

"You know me, I'll try anything once," Garen replied.

"Let me send backup," Fear said.

"No time, they'll be gone with the goods by then, I can handle it," Garen said.

"Not alone, wait there," Fear said.

"I'm already moving, don't bother," Garen replied.

"Garen…" Fear continued.

"SSSSSHHHHH…..ZZZZZZTTT…sorry….SSHHHHRRRRTTT…_you're breaking up_!" Garen cut the transmission.

"Idiot," Charna said grinning and shaking her head.

"Full speed to the Temple of the Ancients!" Fear growled.

§

Cloud and the group took the Shinra Chopper over to the Temple and quickly worked out the details with the members of SOLDIER posted there. After confirming with Rufus Sam held the White Materia in his hand and stood silently staring at it.

"You okay?" asked Cloud.

Sam looked up and nodded, "Just looking at it."

"Amazing little Materia, we saw what it could do," Cloud said.

"Unfortunately it hadn't been enough," Sam added.

"That was our error," Vincent said. "If we had defeated Sephiroth sooner then Holy would have worked, the Materia did its job, it was us that were the deciding factor."

"You people saved the planet," Sam said, "you can pretty much let yourself off the hook for that one."

Vincent just nodded slightly.

"The little Materia that could," Sam muttered and chuckled, "you may end up helping them save the world again little guy. This time existence itself, maybe."

"Stop talking to the Materia, Sammy-boy," said a voice behind him, Sam turned quickly to find the owner. "People are gonna start thinking you're _crazy_!"

Mere feet away stood Garen, Sam recognized the Outcast immediately.

"Who's this, now?" asked Cloud readying his sword.

"Second in command of the Outcasts," Sam said. "Leader's brother."

"I'll take that Materia, Sam," Garen said walking toward him.

Sam sighed and put the Materia in his pocket, "Come and get it."

Garen suddenly shot off the ground and through the air toward him.

Sam jumped and flew through the air to meet him, in mid-air both collided, Garen was sent straight downward into the ground. It created a small crater from which dust and dirt shot upward. Sam landed just outside this cloud of dust.

Garen quickly came shooting out of the cloud and rammed into Sam sending both of them flying backward.

Vincent drew his gun and fired a single shot.

Garen had to turn his attention away to use his telekinesis to deflect the bullet; in that time Sam kicked him and sent him continuing on backward while Sam came to a halt.

His flight was uncontrolled and Garen tumbled out of the air and fell into the crater that used to be the Temple of the Ancients.

Sam quickly turned and ran toward the crater, diving in and heading toward Garen.

Immediately Sam came flying back out with Garen, both of them sailing up through the air. This time Sam came down hard smashing into the ground, he rolled aside just in time to dodge a powerful downward attack by Garen. Sam rolled back and kicked Garen in the back of the head sending him falling forward.

Garen stood and faced Sam, he lifted a hand and suddenly Cloud's sword flew from his hands and floated in front of Garen. Then the sword shot end over end toward Sam, Sam in turn sidestepped and let the sword pass by. Then Garen made the sword split in two, now two blades came at Sam.

Sam dexterously ducked and sidestepped constantly to avoid the floating swords.

As Garen was preoccupied Aeris came up behind him and smashed him hard across the back of the head with her staff, it appeared to be charged with a green energy that not only hit Garen but sent him sailing a few feet away and grinding to a halt on the ground.

Sam grabbed the now no longer floating swords and turned to Garen, "I'd watch her, buddy, she looks all cute and frail but she _will_ kick your Outcast ass."

Garen stood up dizzily and rubbed the back of his head, then raised his hand and pointed it straight at Sam.

Sam was lifted a few centimeters off the ground; he dropped the swords and found he couldn't move his limbs.

Vincent raised his gun, Garen flicked a wrist and his gun flew out of his hand, he was then tossed off his feet and headfirst into the ground.

Cloud was likewise tossed as he made for his swords.

Aeris moved and Garen turned his attention to her, he raised his free hand and she started floating in the air as well.

"My two favourite Cetra, where's your brother, Aeris?" asked Garen.

"Behind you, dumbass," Gast muttered and fired his shotgun.

The shot blew Garen's head clear off his shoulders and the body fell limp on the ground, Sam and Aeris dropped to the ground and then to their knees, suddenly feeling weak.

Gast stood silently with his shotgun pointed straight ahead, "Careful, fellow Ancient, this is no time to lose your head."

Sam looked up weakly and grinned managing to say, "Good one."

"Another telekinetic," Vincent said sitting up but falling back down, his head had been thrown into the ground hard when he was thrown and he felt as if his neck was broken.

"The last one," Sam said standing up with a struggle and walking over to a still doubled over Aeris.

"Last one?" asked Gast walking over to his sister.

"The Outcasts only had three in their lifetime," Sam explained helping Aeris to her feet. "Garen and the other are now dead, I was the third."

"So we've weakened them," Gast said assisting in helping Aeris.

"Most definitely," Sam replied, "but you just killed their leader's brother, Feardorcha is gonna be _pissed_."

"Gast…" Aeris muttered shaking off the drowsiness, "…you killed him."

"I had to, sis," Gast replied smiling.

"What's…" Aeris said, "…you're first name?"

"Jackson," Gast replied, "most people just call me Gast."

"Jack," Aeris muttered, "I have a brother…"

She passed out.

"Is she alright?" asked Gast.

"Garen was a very powerful Telekinetic," Sam said, his head was still swimming, "the only reason I can stand is because being a Telekinetic I have a certain immunity."

"Cloud," Aeris said suddenly, eyes shooting open, "where's Cloud?"

Sam grinned, "Lover boy's unconscious over there, don't worry, he wasn't hit hard enough to kill him. I'm surprised tall, dark and brooding over there is still conscious after that."

Aeris stumbled over to Cloud quickly kneeling down beside him and turning him on to his back, he was in fact unconscious.

"He's the key," Aeris said.

"What?" asked Gast.

"Centre Time…" Aeris said, starting to fall into unconsciousness again, "…artifact…Cloud."

Aeris fell on her back and closed her eyes.

"What the hell?" asked Gast.

"Centre Time…artifact…Cloud," Sam muttered.

"Someone tell me what the hell is going on here," Gast said.

"Him…after all this time, the key to Centre Time…" Sam said, "…the Outcasts have no idea."

"Sam, explain something here!" Gast growled.

"Sorry," Sam said, "alright, there's been a new development, we need to talk."

§

Across time and space, in another existence, a group of Outcasts led by a commanding officer by the name of Foret was looking through the abandoned town of Kalm for an item they desperately needed.

They had received the news that the main force had failed to retrieve the White Materia and they likely wouldn't be able to retrieve it at present time. Foret knew he needed to find the artifact in this important existence, if he returned without it he wouldn't live very long.

Their leader was becoming more and more on edge as their plan was beginning to deteriorate.

"Sir, the last of the town's residents have left," said an Outcast behind Foret.

Foret nodded to him, "Any luck with the Peacemaker?"

"Not yet, but there is much of the town we've yet to explore, we haven't ventured inside any of the buildings yet," the Outcast replied.

"We need to find that gun, our enemies may know to come here," Foret said.

"I have more news, sir," the Outcast continued.

"What is it?"

"There's been a major casualty."

"Who?"

"Feardorcha's brother, sir, he's been killed."

Foret stood silently, "By whom?"

"We believe a traitor was involved, he was killed by a firearm of some kind," the Outcast replied.

"Traitor," Foret muttered, "Samael."

"Who, sir?" asked the Outcast.

"It doesn't matter, if it is him he will know to come here, we must find the Peacemaker before he does," Foret said.

"There was one more thing I was told to inform you of, sir," the Outcast said, "apparently the owner of the Peacemaker is with the traitor."

"Vincent," Foret muttered.

"Yes, sir, you know how much trouble we had killing him in this existence," the Outcast said.

"That one will be much more powerful, traveling with an Outcast traitor no less," Foret said.

"If he is reunited with the gun we won't have a chance, will we?" asked the Outcast.

"If it's true they have possession of the White Materia letting them have two artifacts is not an option," Foret replied ominously, "there is no choice, if we don't find it before they come then we will kill them."

"We don't have enough men to do that do we, sir?" asked the Outcast.

"No, not nearly enough," Foret agreed, "get in contact with Feardorcha, tell him we need the Shadows."

"He won't," the Outcast said doubtfully.

"These people killed his brother, he won't hesitate to construct another of his buildings," Foret said smiling, "they are a strong enemy, but the Shadows will be their equal."

"Yes, sir," the Outcast was gone.

Foret walked over to one of the buildings and jumped upward, shooting up impossibly high and landing on top of the roof.

He walked to the edge and looked across the wild world outside of the town.

He watched his men sweep around the outside of the town; soon they would move inside and start checking the buildings.

It was inevitable, they would find the Peacemaker. Before or after their enemies appeared…that was left to fate.

Foret stood for a while longer and then walked away from the edge of the roof, "If you do come, you will be met with an army, Samael. For your sake, friend, forget this place."


	22. Omega Materia

--Right, so I realize it's been quite a while since I've updated, I got Dirge of Cerberus…priorities you know. In any case, if any of my readers has beaten Dirge of Cerberus they know that my story is in conflict of something to do with Chaos I won't mention what in case there are people who haven't beat it. I can't magically change this conflict so I will just have to ignore it and go on as planned, I will however be referring to Dirge of Cerberus here and there so if you do need me to explain something and you haven't played the game mention it in your review. On with the story.

**Chapter 21**

**Omega Materia**

Sam sat staring at the White Materia as the others moved around; they were trying to figure out what exactly Sam had told them. He could tell they didn't quite get it, and he knew they never really could.

The basic idea was that Cloud himself was the artifact the Outcasts needed to get into Centre Time, the last artifact they'd need to make their plan work. It was much more complicated than that though.

They not only needed Cloud and all the other artifacts but they needed a certain combination of them all. They also needed Cloud to willingly open the door to Centre Time, and obviously he wouldn't do that.

This above all else was the reason why Sam knew he needed to get the second most important artifact before the Outcasts did.

Sam needed to get another special Materia, one more powerful than both Black and White, but not nearly as well known.

Sam stood up and walked over to Gast, the sun was setting and he was watching his sister sleep.

"Is Cloud conscious?" asked Sam.

"Not yet, he's been out as long as she has," Gast replied.

"I have to go," Sam said.

Gast looked up in confusion, "What?"

Sam nodded, "You're not safe here, you all need to get away, when Aeris wakes up she'll know what to do."

"What about you?" asked Gast.

"I'll find you," Sam replied. "I'll look after the White Materia, I'll need it for where I'm going."

Gast just nodded, "When will you be back?"

"Hopefully very soon, if it takes too long all is lost anyways," Sam said.

"What exactly are you looking for?" asked Gast.

"Another special Materia," Sam said, "one to hold back the Weapons."

"Weapons?" asked Gast. "They're all dead, though."

"I should have said _Weapon_," Sam said.

"Omega," Lucrecia said behind them.

"What?" asked Gast.

"Don't worry, not many people know that one," Sam said. "Lucrecia Ms. Knows-More-Than-She-Should here obviously is informed."

"I know of it," Vincent said standing off to Sam's left.

Sam jumped and looked at Vincent, "Could you not sneak up on me like that?"

"Sorry," Vincent replied deadpan.

"Yes, I know you know it," Sam said, "you killed it."

"In one time or another," Vincent replied.

"Well put," Sam replied, "in this existence Vincent and his buddies here are gone, so Deepground and those events probably won't even happen."

"Well, that's good," Gast said, "now what the hell are you talking about?"

"How much does Hojo's son know of his father's work?" asked Vincent.

"I don't know," Gast replied.

"He'd be one to ask," Sam said.

"You think he'll know about this and I wouldn't?" asked Gast.

"It's Shinra's dark little secret, Professor," Sam said, "it's common knowledge you'd go to a guy like Hojo for dark secrets."

Samael looked over at Vincent, "Am I right my crimson and very shady friend?"

Vincent nodded slightly.

"He'd know," Sam said and nodded to Lucrecia, "and so would you, consider yourself lucky though."

"Why?" she asked.

"In another scenario you don't come out quite as…" Sam trailed off.

"Unscarred," Vincent finished.

"That works," Sam said nodding.

Lucrecia was silent.

"What happened to her?" asked Gast.

"Well, for the sake of all existence, you'd be better off not knowing," Sam said.

Gast was also silent.

"Alright, I'm off, when Aeris gets up tell her I said: 'don't follow me, I'm going for the Materia' alright?" asked Sam.

Gast nodded.

"Wait," Vincent said, Sam turned back to him. "Are you saying it's possible all this might awaken Omega?"

"Omega Weapon is a defense mechanism for the planet like all the other Weapons," Lucrecia said, "except Omega is designed to awaken when it senses the end of the world so it can move the Lifestream."

"More or less," Sam said, "and this is the end of the world on such a grand scale that it'll blow the top off any Hojo or freakin' smartass Cetra anywhere."

"Unless you get this special Materia it'll be all over on every possible level of existence," Vincent said.

"If I don't get this Materia, tall dark and shady," Sam said, "we're downright _fucked_ on every possible level of existence."

"Are you sure you should be going alone in that case?" asked Gast.

"Show of hands, who here other than Cloud thinks they could kill Sephiroth?" asked Sam raising his own hand, no one else did. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Wouldn't the Outcasts want this Materia as well?" asked Gast.

"The Outcasts would like to think they're masterminds, but they're really just naïve," Sam said. "They have no idea what they're doing will bring about the destruction of every known existence. They aren't bringing the Cetra back; they're killing them off completely. Even the dead ones won't exist anymore."

"So, we just sit here and hope Aeris wakes up?" asked Lucrecia.

"Hope she wakes up?" asked Sam. "You're such a downer. She's asleep not dead. If you'd like to keep yourself busy why don't you all go pay Hojo's son a visit, that'll be a laugh and a half won't it?"

"I think he might be worth talking to, actually," Lucrecia said, "it appears he knows things."

"I have a question," Vincent said, "I know Lucrecia is Sephiroth's mother, who's his other son's mother?"

"Still Lucrecia," Gast said looking sadly at her, "it's not a happy moment in the past I think it'd be better…"

"You know about that?" asked Lucrecia.

Sam laughed and everyone looked at him.

"Sorry," Sam said, "just…if anyone was to know about it…it would be this guy."

"How?" asked Lucrecia.

"My question first," Vincent said.

"Twins, dude, twins," Sam said, "in your place and time, Sephiroth was an only child. Here it seems everyone has a brother, eh?"

"Twins…" Vincent muttered.

"Only one got injected with the Jenova Cells," Gast said, "the other became a scientist."

"Sephiroth the scientist," Sam muttered chuckling, "I love this place it's like a parody, Aeris has a brother, and Sephiroth has a nerd version of himself."

"Strange," Vincent murmured.

"Careful, shit like this can mess you up real good," Sam said, "try not to think about it all too much."

"You get out of here, we'll talk with Hojo," Gast said.

"While you're at it ask him about time travel," Sam winked, "you might be surprised, some of that psychotic genius rubbed off."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Vincent said deadpan.

"Hey no worries, remember," Sam said, "you're still in the Turks. Nobody shot you here; Shinra didn't even assign a Turk to Lucrecia and Hojo."

"Wait, so you are Grimoire's son?" asked Gast.

"You have fun trying to explain this," Sam said smiling, "remember to pass on my message to Aeris, will ya?"

Sam was gone with a snap of his fingers.

"I shouldn't ask," Gast said.

"No, you shouldn't," Vincent agreed.

"Okay," Gast said shrugging.

"_Sam, no!_" came a sudden screech that made everyone jump.

"Aeris?" asked Vincent seeing her sitting straight up looking around fearfully. "What's wrong?'

"Where's Sam?" asked Aeris.

"He went to get the Materia; he says not to follow him," Gast said kneeling beside her, "are you alright?"

"Omega," Aeris said, "he'll die."

"Who, Sam?" asked Gast.

"He knows he'll die," Aeris said, "oh, no, we have to stop him."

"Stop him from doing what?" asked Vincent.

"He's after the Omega Materia, the Materia designed by the Cetra to control the Weapons," Aeris said.

"She always knows more than we do, don't be surprised," Vincent said.

"I'm not," Gast replied grinning, "I think Sam can handle it, Aeris."

"No, the Cetra had it protected so even a Cetra can't get it, and Sephiroth..."

"He has the White Materia, will that help him?" asked Vincent.

Aeris shook her head, "It'll only postpone the inevitable, he won't be able to…"

"What?" asked Gast.

"He's going to send the Materia back instead of himself," Aeris said shaking her head. "The Omega Materia will survive, he's going to sacrifice himself."

"We can't let him do that," Gast said shaking his head, "that's why he was so vague about it, can't we help him?"

Aeris shook her head, "Without the White Materia we'll die instantly."

"I think we're missing a possibility," Vincent said.

Aeris looked at him curiously.

"Hojo said that for me to be able to exist with Chaos he had to give me an indestructible body," Vincent said.

"What?" asked Gast.

"Chaos," Lucrecia muttered.

"Whatever it is I can survive it," Vincent said.

Aeris looked uncertain but couldn't deny the logic, "You might be right."

"Can you send me to where he went?" asked Vincent.

"Yes," Aeris said, "the Omega Materia is in an existence outside of the Star Effect which would explain why the Outcasts don't know about it."

"Is it like ours?" asked Vincent.

"It's another version of the same existence, yes," Aeris replied, "the Materia only exists in that particular time and place. It is held in the City of the Ancients."

"Booby trapped to hell I gather as well," Gast said.

Aeris nodded, "Vincent, Hojo was an intelligent man, but when he said an indestructible body I'm not sure he took every option into account."

"If I know Hojo, he did," Lucrecia put in.

"You said it yourself," Vincent said, "we need to stop him."

Aeris nodded, "Okay, but if you don't save Sam…"

"No one can bring me back, I know," Vincent cut in nodding, "do what you need to do."

Aeris raised her staff and pointed it at him, "Be careful, Vincent, if we lose both of you..."

Vincent said nothing.

Aeris closed her eyes and a green beam shot from her staff and hit Vincent, then he was gone.

"We're spreading ourselves too thin," Aeris muttered.

"What?" asked Gast.

"This whole thing started out much simpler," Aeris said, "since the Outcast leader forced us into the past and away from our destination it has become much more complex."

"Sam suggested we talk to Hojo's son," Gast said.

"Did he think he'd know something?" asked Aeris.

"Maybe, he is in charge of the Time/Space Research in Shinra," Gast replied.

"Uh, excuse me," Lucrecia said, they both looked at her. "Could I ask something…about Chaos?"

"I'm afraid I'm not much of an expert," Aeris replied, "I was killed before I knew much at all about Vincent."

"He has Chaos inside of him?" asked Lucrecia.

"From what I know, yes," Aeris replied. "Apparently it had something to do with what it took to keep him alive after Hojo shot him. I wasn't around for this information; this is what I picked up from in the Lifestream, nothing more though."

"Hojo…shot him?" asked Lucrecia.

"That doesn't surprise me, however Vincent Valentine here is still alive and in the Turks," Gast said.

"I think it'd be better if you just didn't know," Aeris said.

"Sam said something like that, yeah," Gast said nodding.

"Well, if Sam said we should talk to him maybe we should," Aeris said.

"Look, nobody here should like the guy, but he's dead and this isn't him, this is his son remember," Gast said. "His son which…may look a bit awkwardly like Sephiroth."

Gast was looking at Aeris.

"Sephiroth is dead, it won't bother me," Aeris said.

Suddenly a groan could be heard from Cloud.

"He's waking up," Gast said.

Aeris knelt down beside him, "Cloud?"

His eyes opened revealing his two signature bright Mako infused eyes.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We'll go later," Gast said, "why don't you try and fill him in on what's going on?"

Aeris nodded.

"Lucrecia, I think we need to talk," Gast said to her and she nodded.

The two stepped a few feet from Aeris and Cloud.

"Shinra didn't ever assign a Turk to you, did they?" asked Gast.

"No," Lucrecia replied.

"You're not lying to me I hope," Gast said.

"Of course not," she replied indignantly.

"Alright," Gast said, "because hearing that in just about every existence Hojo wasn't any better of a person worries me. More so the fact in other existences you come out of it all in worse shape, I'm worried it may still come to be."

"Don't worry Professor, I've put what happened back then behind me," Lucrecia said, "what your father started with Hojo and I brought about many things…most of them horrible. It's over now however and I think we should be worrying about the current problem instead of one that doesn't affect us."

"Have you ever really met Vincent Valentine, the Turk?" asked Gast.

"No, but Grimoire talks about him," Lucrecia said.

Gast shook his head, "These are all things that have been resolved, you're right, I'm getting side tracked."

"Professor Gast," Cloud said now standing.

"Yes, Cloud?" Gast asked.

"How fast do you think we can get to Hojo's son?" he asked.

"The Shinra Chopper is still here," Gast said, "ten minutes, why?"

"He can get us where we need to go to stop one of our problems," Cloud said.

"Which problem exactly?" asked Gast.

Cloud looked at Aeris and then back at Gast, "How much do you know about something called the Ancient Black?"


	23. Materia Staff

**Chapter 22**

**Materia Staff**

Vincent opened his eyes and saw complete darkness for a moment, but quickly it seemed as if the world was constructed around him. It looked similar to the world he knew save for some differences, one being that every square inch of grass appeared to have been burnt to nothingness. Burnt to nothingness along with everything else it appeared.

Vincent walked forward and looked around; he spotted nothing but endless mutilated grass and all-round blankness. It only took him a few seconds to recognize where he stood, a few miles to his left and just in view was Midgar. Rather a version that made the Midgar he knew look brand new. The only thing that actually resembled Midgar was the fact the huge black crater filled with black twisted debris was circular, that and a somewhat recognizable Kalm sat not far from it.

Vincent headed toward the mess that was Midgar and got close enough to look down into the huge crater. He then turned and looked at Kalm; it too was in shambles but not quite as run down, buildings were still standing there. Decrepit buildings, granted, but buildings all the same.

Suddenly a noise came from the Midgar crater, it sounded like metal clattering together. Vincent spun and aimed his revolver at the crater expecting something horrifying to come out of it.

Instead he was aiming his gun at a man crawling out and standing up, it was Samael.

"Jesus!" Sam said seeing Vincent and jumping in surprise. "For Christ's…tall dark and shadowy, what are you doing here?"

Vincent holstered his gun, "Aeris sent me to help you."

"I said _don't_ follow me," Sam growled.

"You told _her_ not to follow you," Vincent replied, "so I decided I would."

Sam shook his head, "Don't start with semantics. I meant _no one_ should follow me."

"You must have realized I could do this," Vincent said, "I wonder why you felt you needed to sacrifice yourself?"

"Well, the idea was to make sure no one else had to get through the defense mechanism, it's no fun unless you're like me," Sam said.

"Defense mechanism?" Vincent asked.

"The thing the Cetra set up to guard the Omega Materia is not so much a thing but a…test you could say," Sam explained.

"Test of what?"

"Mental strength more or less."

"What would I have to do?" asked Vincent.

"Relive every horrible moment of your past," Sam said, "which for you, dude, I do not recommend."

"Kind of you, but it was unnecessary to think you should kill yourself when there was a safer option," Vincent said.

"That and I don't really have any horrible moments," Sam said. "Still would have sent me back to the Lifestream though, no one can withstand it, it messes you up real good."

"You've seen it happen?" asked Vincent.

"It's how I died," Sam replied, "dying there twice would be like comic irony really."

"Is there any way we could share the burden?" asked Vincent.

"That's possible I suppose, but at this point I'm not sure we'll have to worry about the defense mechanism at all," Sam said cryptically.

"What?" asked Vincent.

"The Outcasts are here, or were here," Sam said.

"I thought they didn't know about this place," Vincent replied.

"I didn't think they did," Sam said, "but I only know of one weapon that does damage like this."

Vincent looked around, "A weapon did all this?"

"I just got the scoop from some friends in Midgar," Sam said nodding, "they call it the Materia Staff…or more ominously, just The Staff."

"In Midgar?" asked Vincent.

"When everything got leveled the survivors found a way to take cover in the wreckage," Sam said. "They mentioned an old man with a staff that brought forth Summons that completely wiped out this entire area. Guess they didn't bother finishing off Kalm because there shouldn't be anything left standing there. I've seen that staff work and it's not a pretty sight."

"Outcast developed weapon?" asked Vincent.

"Probably, I've never seen it before in my life," Sam replied. "I heard one eye witness say that they saw two Summons, Ifrit and Bahamut."

"It can summon two simultaneously," Vincent deduced, "or more."

"That means we're dealing with a guy with some serious magical abilities here, I doubt just anybody could handle the thing," Sam said. "I didn't get a good look at the guy before but I think I know who's wielding the staff: the oldest member of the Outcasts, Alden Varidian."

"Is it like this everywhere?" asked Vincent.

"I haven't been past Midgar, but if it is then we only have to follow the trail of destruction."

"We can't let them have that Materia," Vincent said.

"You got that right tall dark and shady, if they do get their hands on it we might as well kiss existence as we know it good bye."

"Then we should get going," Vincent said.

Sam nodded and they put words to action.

The two headed in the direction of the City of the Ancients, as they did they slowly realized they were in fact following a trail of destruction.

"They destroyed every place that didn't have the Materia," Sam said shaking his head.

"If they did have the Materia they would have destroyed it anyways," Vincent said deadpan.

"Good point," Sam agreed.

"Are we actually going to walk and swim our way there?" asked Vincent.

"I was thinking teleportation actually," Sam said, "care to join me?"

"Whenever you're ready," Vincent said.

"Hang on," Sam said and snapped his fingers.

As quick as the Cetra could snap his fingers they were standing outside the City of the Ancients.

"Now that's convenient travel time," Sam said.

"They haven't come here yet," Vincent said.

"Looks that way," Sam agreed. "Though these guys are very pro-Cetra, I don't think they'd blow this place up anyways."

They headed toward the city and found it was in fact untouched; it appeared the Outcasts hadn't come yet.

"Alright, the Materia should be sitting at the altar where Aeris bit the dust," Sam said, "getting there is the problem."

"There's no way to deactivate the defense mechanism?" asked Vincent.

"No, the Cetra didn't put in any kind of deactivation method, we'll have to…" the noise of an airship cut Sam off.

"Outcasts," Vincent muttered.

Sam smiled, "This we can use."

"What?" asked Vincent.

"Come on, let's get out of sight, we'll let these guys do the work for us," Sam said.

"How so?" asked Vincent following Sam to a hiding place.

"If the mechanism is busy with the Outcasts then we can walk right through," Sam said, "the thing itself is really only an invisible field set on top of the staircase that leads down to where the Materia is. It's only fault is that if it's busy with say…a group of Outcasts, then it can only focus on them and not say…the tall dark and shady fellow with a Cetra in tow, savvy?"

"Savvy?" asked Vincent.

"Jack Sparrow," Sam said and then shook his head, "right, you guys don't have stuff like that, I'm never gonna get used to how boring your lives are. If they ever come out with Pirates of the Caribbean where you're from definitely go see it."

Vincent remained silent.

"Onward and forward, then," Sam said dismissively.

It wasn't long before a group of Outcasts came into view; Vincent and Sam were out of sight and watching the group. It consisted of about six men and one other Sam recognized. The old man with the staff that leveled Costa Del Sol.

"Alden," Sam muttered, "I knew it was him."

"That's the staff?" asked Vincent.

"That's it, looks they're going through," Sam said.

Indeed, one Outcast attempted to go down the stairs. Immediately the first froze in his tracks, shortly after he began to look distraught, almost afraid, then in a few minutes he was screaming as if trying to get away from something. He fell headfirst down the stairs and was likely dead.

"Not very appealing, eh?" asked Sam. "The White Materia can hold back the affects of the field temporarily, that's why I brought it."

Vincent felt that a response was unnecessary.

"Stand back," said the old man and, after seeing what had happened to their comrade, the others listened.

Alden raised the staff and suddenly a Summon burst forth from it, Sam and Vincent both recognized Shiva.

"He's attacking the defense mechanism with a Summon," Sam murmured.

"Will that work?" asked Vincent.

"I wanna say no, but," Sam shrugged, "nothing surprises me anymore."

"I know the feeling," Vincent said.

The Summon quickly turned the invisible field into what appeared to be a wall of ice.

"Now if they shatter the ice the field disappears," Sam said, "son of a bitch, at least they're clearing a path for us."

Alden had Shiva return to his staff and then used the bottom of the said staff to shatter the field blocking their path.

"Onward," Alden ordered and the remaining Outcasts stepped through cautiously.

"Let's go," Sam said.

He and Vincent followed a good distance behind the Outcasts and they came to the familiar spot. Alden and his group were stopped and looked across to the altar where, in the very centre, floated a sparkling silver coloured Materia.

"Omega Materia," Sam said.

Vincent drew his weapon, "I'll take care of the Materia, you make sure that staff doesn't get used."

"Deal," Sam said, "be careful tall dark and shady, these guys are bad news."

"I've fought worse," Vincent replied.

"Hey, wait," Sam said to Vincent, "back in the other existence, when I asked for people who could kill Sephiroth to raise their hands, why didn't you?"

"I'm not sure I could," Vincent said.

"I used that to discourage people from wanting to follow me," Sam said.

"It didn't work," Vincent said.

"I'm almost glad it didn't," Sam said, "don't go getting yourself killed."

Vincent headed toward the Materia; Sam moved to enact his own plan.

Just across from the Omega Materia the Outcasts listened to Alden.

"One of you go across and grab the Materia," Alden ordered, "then return it to me, we will then return to the airship and give the Materia to Feardorcha."

"Sir, what does the Materia do exactly?" asked one Outcast.

"Fear was only recently informed of its existence," Alden said, "once he has it in his possession we will know."

"I'll retrieve it, sir," another Outcast volunteered.

"Very well, do so quickly," Alden said.

The Outcast nodded and started to jump across to the altar. After a few moments he stepped on to the altar and headed for the Materia. He reached out and was ready to close his hand around it when something red flashed by. It was so fast that the Outcast wasn't sure he'd actually seen it. However something must have passed by because the Materia which was once floating in front of him was now gone.

"What the…" the Outcast lost his words as a golden claw stabbed through his back. The man's dark eyes widened as he fell to the ground, dead. Vincent stood behind him, Omega Materia in his other hand.

"Kill him, get the Materia, quickly!" yelled the old man, the Outcasts did so immediately.

As the remaining four began to jump across Vincent put the Materia away safely and drew his revolver. He then started jumping across toward the approaching Outcasts. The Outcasts drew weapons; each of them had a different sword in hand.

The first Outcast landed in front of Vincent and attempted a slash with his blade but Vincent quickly ducked the attack and tripped the dark clad man who then in turn fell into the water.

Vincent made quick work of the other three, blocking blades with his golden claw and shooting the ones who had enough balance to stay on their feet. The first Outcast shot out of the water and landed behind Vincent. He attempted a vertical slice that the Outcast was sure would work; he had the drop on his enemy.

However, Vincent was prepared for the attack. He quickly spun and used his gun to block the downward chop. The Outcast's weapon stopped above Vincent's head, Vincent then kicked forward knocking the Outcast back. He managed to keep his footing and came at Vincent again. This time Vincent jumped straight up, flipped gracefully forward, and landed behind the Outcast. Before the Outcast could even think of turning to attack Vincent shot him with his revolver and he fell dead into the water. He had finished off the last of the Outcasts.

Across from the altar Alden watched the last of his men die and raised his staff to attack his new enemy.

"Alden," said Sam standing behind the old man.

Alden froze and turned to face Sam.

"Samael, what a surprise, Fear mentioned you were in town," Alden said.

"Where'd you get that staff?" asked Sam.

"The Outcasts manufactured it," Alden said, "amazing what you can find in other existences. Quite the little weapon, have you seen it work?"

"Once or twice," Sam replied.

"I suppose you'll want to see it again, then," Alden said, "as you're obviously not an Outcast anymore."

"We're on different sides this time," Sam said shrugging.

Alden nodded and suddenly shot up into the air.

"Agile for a man of his age," Vincent commented now standing in front of Sam.

"If we split up he won't be able to summon on us," Sam said.

The floating old man activated his staff and summoned three Summons: Ifrit, Shiva and Bahamut.

"Well, unless of course he summons three simultaneously that is," Sam muttered.

"I can handle the Summons, you get that staff away from him," Vincent said and shot up into the air.

"Alden you old bastard, you just had to make this difficult as usual," Sam growled and disappeared.

Sam reappeared up beside where Alden floated.

"Back to earth with you," Sam said tackling the old man and the two of them landed back on the ground, Sam and Alden stood at the same time.

Sam waved his hand and Alden's staff flew out of his hands.

"Fetch boy, fetch," Sam said as the staff sailed away.

Alden muttered something and a blast of fire shot out of his hands at Sam.

"Crap," Sam growled and dived left to avoid the attack, barely.

Alden went for his staff and Sam gave chase.

Above, Vincent fired away at Ifrit who was tossing fireballs at him left and right. Vincent was easily dodging them, his bullets, however, weren't doing as much damage as Vincent would have liked.

Suddenly Shiva made a move, a large spear made of ice shot at him from his right side. Vincent sailed backward in a flip that made the spear narrowly miss. Immediately after, Bahamut charged in from behind.

Vincent landed on Bahamut's back and emptied his revolver into the Summon's head. It appeared to hurt the creature but it still had more than enough energy to throw Vincent off. As he fell through the air Ifrit rained more fireballs on him and Shiva sent a flurry of sharp small daggers of ice at him. Vincent twisted and spun to avoid the fireballs and daggers, one of the ice projectiles hit Vincent in the leg and he growled. He reloaded in mid-air and fired at Shiva. He then spun and fired at Ifrit, Bahamut was too fast, however, and he hit Vincent with a downward force that sent both of them into the water below with a huge splash. The impact of both the water and the ground under the water should have killed Vincent…then again a lot of things should kill Vincent.

Sam kicked the staff away from Alden and the old man managed to fire off another magical spell, a bolt of electricity hit Sam and sent him flying backward into a wall. Sam growled as he collided and fell to the ground. His head was spinning and his back hurt like hell, but he knew he had to get up or Alden would grab his staff back. Sam got back just as Alden got a grip on the weapon.

"Unhand that stick!" Sam yelled charging into the old man and they both rolled off into the water. They both struggled against the water to throw the other off and get to the surface. The staff floated off to their left and started to sink.

Sam noticed out of the corner of his eye something strange, Bahamut was face first into the ground under water and something red was glowing in the small space between Bahamut and the ground.

Then suddenly Bahamut was hurled upward and out of the water followed by a streak of crimson.

Sam looked up through the water above and saw the same streak shooting around above. Though his vision was distorted he saw enough to know that Chaos was kicking some serious ass. The streak was shooting from Summon to Summon and each time the creatures appeared to deteriorate more and more. At one point Ifrit had lost both of his horns and was finished off by the red streak passing straight through the Summon. It disappeared and the others soon followed suit. Chaos made short work of them and soon all three were sent back from where they came.

Sam then realized that Alden had managed to swim away and toward the sinking staff. Sam turned to give chase, realizing he couldn't hold his breath for much longer. Then he heard a splash from behind him and something with wings shot past him and appeared to grab Alden and the staff before shooting back out of the water.

Sam swam for the surface and climbed out of the water. He caught sight of the demonic creature that was Chaos before Vincent turned back into his normal self, Alden lay on his back, his staff was in Vincent's hand.

A soaked Sam walked over to Vincent, "You should do that transforming stuff more often, dude, it's really cool."

Vincent didn't respond.

"Well, Alden," Sam said, "this was fun, but now to business."

"Feardorcha will prevail, he has everything on his side, he doesn't need the staff," Alden said bitterly.

"He doesn't have this either," Sam said showing him the White Materia.

"Nor this," Vincent said handing Sam the Omega Materia.

"At this point we have more than Fear does," Sam said matter of factly.

"He will destroy you, traitor, if your lover doesn't do it first," Alden growled.

Sam shook his head, "I don't know what she's thinking, she must realize how crazy Fear is."

"Charna believes in the cause, something you do not possess: faith in the Cetra," Alden growled, "we will rule the planet once more."

"After Fear destroys every possible existence, I don't think so," Sam said.

"The Outcasts will prevail!" Alden yelled. "Bolt3!"

Alden almost managed to fire off the spell but Vincent was faster, he drew his gun and fired, killing Alden instantly.

"Fear's got them all as stupid as him," Sam said shaking his head, "these people…they used to think for themselves."

"It is possible to want something so much you'll ignore anything that contradicts the possibility," Vincent said.

Sam nodded.

Vincent shrugged, "Alden might have known, they all might know, exactly what will happen if they succeed, but maybe no life at all is better than life without the Cetra for them."

"That's not their call to make," Sam growled.

Vincent nodded slightly.

"Come on," Sam said, "we've got somewhere to be."

"Another artifact?" asked Vincent.

Sam nodded, "The others can get along fine without us, I was planning on bringing you along to get this one, now's a good a time as any."

"Where to?" asked Vincent.

"Bottom Point Existence Alpha, as Fear would have it called," Sam said. "He's probably got men there already, maybe an army."

"An army," Vincent said.

"Yeah," Sam said.

"I've fought worse," Vincent said.

"You always say that," Sam replied.

Vincent holstered his gun, "It's always true."


	24. The Key

**Chapter 23**

**The Key**

Cloud looked over the ridge and saw the same black building he recognized from his own existence. This one wasn't finished yet, though, it was only half constructed, some of it was a mess of bars and other equipment necessary for building the place.

"The entire project is in very early stages," Gast said standing beside Cloud. "I don't see how Hojo can know anything."

"I just know he knows," Cloud said cryptically, "I know."

"You saw it in a dream so therefore it must be true," Gast said shaking his head, "absurd…but what isn't anymore, right?"

"If we're gonna talk then let's talk and get this over with," Cloud said.

They made their way down to the building's entrance, two Shinra Soldiers in blue stood on either side of the door.

"Professor Gast, Professor Hojo is looking for you, sir," one of the soldiers said.

"He is?" asked Gast.

"Yes, sir, says he found something about the Cetra," the soldier replied, "sounds important, sir."

"Thank you, I'll see what he needs," Gast said.

"Open the doors," the soldier said and the doors swung open revealing more soldiers inside. "The professor is in Area One, sir."

Gast nodded and the group walked in, they followed Gast into one of the big rooms surrounded by tubes, they all recognized it quite well.

Standing with his back to them was a man in a lab coat just like Gast's, he had long black hair down to around his shoulders.

"Hojo," Gast said.

The man turned around and they all saw a ghost. He looked exactly like Sephiroth except he wore glasses and had jet black hair. Other than that the two were exactly the same. Hojo's eyes didn't have the same Mako glow as Sephiroth's however.

"Professor Gast," Hojo said in a voice that sounded a little more like his father's than Sephiroth's, "mother."

Lucrecia nodded silently.

Cloud imagined the two must have something of a strained relationship; they probably didn't go on any mother-son scientific field trips very often.

"The guard outside said you were looking for me," Gast said, "what did you find?"

"I found something in the file room about the Cetra," Hojo said, "come with me."

They followed him into the room Vincent had pulled files from back in their time.

Hojo picked up a similar file and handed it to Gast.

"Where did this come from?" asked Gast.

"The Turk they assigned to me happened by it outside, near where we were digging. The file isn't Shinra's," Hojo said.

"Any idea who?" asked Gast.

"Well it…" Hojo seemed to catch sight of Aeris for the first time and paused, "…wait, Professor isn't that?"

"My sister?" asked Gast looking up. "Yes."

"Uh, but isn't your sister…"

"Dead?" asked Gast. "Yes."

"Oh…" Hojo said, seeing Gast wasn't willing to give any explanation he just shook his head and moved on. "…uh, well, as you can see the file mentions repercussions of resurrecting Cetra. That in itself was the purpose of this project, we may have a problem."

"Do you know anything about this?" asked Gast to the others.

"We had a similar file in our time," Cloud said, "does it mention something called a guardian?"

"Yes, it does," Hojo said, "they apparently come back with a resurrected Cetra, very dangerous."

"The reason we're not supposed to bring back Cetra I gather?" asked Gast.

"Well, there's that or another entity I'm not sure of," Hojo said, "something called the Ancient Black. The file only mentions it by name and offers no explanation."

"We could just do what we usually do," Gast said laughing, "assume it's the Promised Land."

"You're still looking for that?" asked Aeris.

"I know, really, you'd think we'd all have lives by now," Gast replied grinning.

"Well, if it is the Promised Land then they wouldn't warn us against it I don't think, I believe this creature could veritably…" Hojo paused.

"Destroy the world?" asked Gast.

"Well, yes," Hojo said.

"I agree with you Professor, I do," Gast said closing the file, "anything else?"

"Well, my Turk also found something very strange in the hallways," Hojo said, "er…rather he _heard_ something strange."

"Foot steps?" asked Cloud.

"Why, yes, you heard them too?" asked Hojo. "Wait…you're…"

"Cloud?" asked Gast. "Yes."

"Wait…isn't he…"

"Dead also?" asked Gast. "Yes."

"I…" Hojo sputtered, "…uh…yes…well, we aren't sure what the foot steps are, the lack of…well…someone _walking_ is disturbing. We checked the ventilation for some possible disruption in there but it was clear."

"He knows as much as we do, Cloud," Aeris whispered to him, "I don't think he can help us."

"Vincent found one other thing; he'll have to show you," Hojo said, "let me find him."

"Vincent," Cloud muttered.

"Hojo's Turk," Gast said, "is it possible for me to completely stop being surprised at things?"

"I've about succeeded at that," Cloud said.

Indeed, as Hojo returned to the file room a younger and different looking Vincent Valentine was in tow. He wore a dark blue suit and looked like your average Turk. His hair was shorter, his voice was the same.

"I found this buried under the file in the ground," Vincent said holding up an object that looked like an old key. "It looks like it should open a door or something."

Gast held out a hand, "May I see that?"

Vincent handed it to him.

"Cloud, can you make anything of this?" asked Gast handing the item to Cloud.

"I know what this is," Cloud said.

"You do?" asked Aeris.

"I've seen it before," Cloud said, "the key to our way out."

"Way out of what?" asked Vincent.

"Oh, scientist talk, I can barely understand it and I'm a scientist," Gast said chuckling. "It's a time travel thing."

"So you can use the key?" asked Hojo.

"I'm not sure how to, though," Cloud said, "maybe the control panel."

"The one Vin…" Aeris paused, "…the one that activated the tube we were in."

"Yeah," Cloud said, "let me see if that's possible."

Gast nodded, "I know the control panel, there's only one, follow me."

Gast led them over to the said control panel and Cloud looked it over.

"There's no place for a key," Cloud said quietly.

"You may be on to something here," Vincent said standing beside him, "I read in one file that the control panel controls everything in this room. Assuming the key is what you think it is then there must be a trick to using it."

Cloud looked at the Turk.

"What?" asked Vincent.

"You talk a little different but you remind me of someone," Cloud said.

"Maybe an Ancient has to use it," Gast suggested.

"There are a lot of things about this place that do seem to revolve around the Cetra," Hojo agreed. "It would make sense."

Cloud turned to Gast, he handed him the key, "Let's see what happens when you try."

Gast looked surprised, "Don't you think Aeris…"

"You're as much a Cetra as she is," Cloud said stepping back.

"…alright," Gast said and stepped in front of the control panel.

"Do we have any idea what happens if we get the key to work?" asked Vincent.

"Not a clue," Hojo said.

Vincent drew his pistol, it wasn't the same as the one the other Vincent had, this Vincent carried a much smaller pistol that wasn't a revolver. It was a .45 caliber handgun that seemed to fit Vincent better, or at least this Vincent.

"Trial and error with time travel is a bad idea," Vincent said readying his gun.

"You have no idea," Cloud agreed.

"Hey, look, something's happening," Hojo said excitedly.

The control panel seemed to light up, lights flashed all over it.

"We haven't been able to get power to work on this thing for weeks," Vincent said, "why's it working now?"

"It just needed a Cetra," Hojo said, "and to think we had the answer all along, right here."

"Does the key fit in anywhere now?" asked Aeris.

"Yes, it does, look," Gast said, a slot had opened up on the panel. "My God, it fits!"

The key slid in and the room seemed to explode into life, lights came on and other objects requiring power hummed to life.

"We don't even have power lines set up to most of these things," Hojo said in amazement.

"If the key was all we needed why was it buried outside?" asked Vincent holstering his pistol.

"Along with a file on dangers of resurrection," Cloud said, "someone who doesn't want you guys to figure out how to use this place I guess."

"It was very deep under ground," Hojo said, "who would spend all that time burying it and also manage to avoid Shinra patrols?"

"Someone not from this existence maybe," Cloud said, "doesn't matter."

"Now we just have to figure out how to work it," Gast said.

"That's going to take a while it appears," Hojo said.

"Maybe not," Aeris said, "I know a thing or two about places like this, I might be able to help."

"That sounds like a good idea," Gast said, "you all should get to work, I need to talk to Cloud for a moment."

They went off and Cloud stayed behind, "What is it?"

"Once we figure this thing out," Gast said, "have you considered exactly where you're going?"

"Not really, Aeris knows more than I do," Cloud said, "I hope."

"Yes, well, I was just asking because…these Outcasts, they're still after me," Gast said, "and I was wondering what should become of me when you leave?"

"I'm not sure," Cloud said, "you may have to come with us."

Gast nodded, "That's what I was wondering about."

"Nothing's for sure yet, Professor, we're not certain this thing will even work," Cloud said.

"Of course, I'm jumping ahead, I just wanted to know what my options were," Gast said. "I'll be off helping the others."

Gast left Cloud to stand by himself for a moment.

"I guess you're not from around here," Vincent said to Cloud.

Cloud turned to look at the approaching Turk, "Not really, no."

"I figured, considering you should be dead and all," Vincent said.

"It's complicated," Cloud said.

"I guess so," Vincent said, "what's it like where you're from?"

"Similar to this place," Cloud replied, "Midgar's in worse shape, Shinra is a wreck, and a few other things."

"Sounds like a tougher place to live," Vincent said.

"Well, for some," Cloud said nodding.

_For you, Vincent, at least_, Cloud thought to himself.

"It's strange," Vincent said, "I feel like I should know you. Of course I know who you are, Cloud Strife, but I feel like I should know you better than I do."

"It's probably some kind of side-effect of us being here," Cloud guessed, "time travel can screw things up."

"I suppose so," Vincent said.

"We'll hopefully be out of here soon and no one will even have to worry about it," Cloud said.

"As long as Professor Hojo doesn't do something with this place," Vincent said, "guy's bad news if you ask me."

Just like his father, it wouldn't surprise Cloud at all.

"Well, if it all works out the way I'm told you won't have to worry about that," Cloud said. "Apparently if we destroy this place in a special spot we destroy this place everywhere."

Centre Time, of course that wasn't a conversation Cloud was going to get into with Vincent.

"Better we don't give the guy anything too powerful, Rufus trusts him though," Vincent said shaking his head. "After what his father did to Professor Gast's father and Dr. Crescent I don't see how he can."

"Lucrecia seems to be handling it alright," Cloud commented, considering she could be stuck in a crystal behind a waterfall at this point.

Vincent shook his head, "I don't understand scientists, how could she let him do that to her child and how could he think to even want to? The man shot another scientist and kidnapped his wife and daughter because they were Cetra, I wonder if he had a conscience at all."

"From what I know of the guy," Cloud said, "probably not."

"I almost wish I was in the Turks back then," Vincent said.

"Trust me, you should be happy you weren't," Cloud muttered, "ignorance is bliss."

Vincent looked at Cloud curiously but decided to let it go, it went without saying that this man probably knew a lot about a lot of stuff Vincent couldn't begin to comprehend.

"When you found the file and the key was there anything else in the general area?" asked Cloud breaking the silence. "It seems strange someone would bury just those two things."

"That's all I saw," Vincent replied, "a key and a file, I figured the file would explain the key but according to Hojo there's nothing even referring to a key at all."

"It's obvious the key was Cetra in origin," Cloud said.

"Why would a Cetra bury the items there when they could have given it to someone?" asked Vincent.

"Why bury it so deep, maybe the person was killed and the items just got covered over," Cloud guessed.

"Well, in my experience," Vincent said, "you never bury something under ground that you want people to find. You bury something to hide it."

Cloud nodded, "We're thinking of it from the point of view of someone who wants to warn us. Maybe it's someone who doesn't want us to be warned."

"Could be Professor Hojo's father," Vincent said, "back in his day finding Cetra and the Promised Land was the only thing that mattered. Maybe this time travel project was in the works that long ago. Hojo found the file and key, killed the owner, and buried them both."

"Then as irony would have it, years later, the building that was planned for the project was built right near the burial spot out in the middle of nowhere," Cloud said. "So if that's true then who did Hojo get the items from?"

"Professor Gast's father maybe?" asked Vincent. "At the time he was the only person who had any contact with a Cetra. His wife and two children were the only remaining ones in the world."

"You think Gast wrote the file using Ifalna's knowledge?" asked Cloud.

"When Hojo found out it could derail his project he killed Gast and hid the items, in the process taking the last remaining Cetra for experiments. Except one, of course," Vincent said.

"That makes sense," Cloud agreed.

"That was all so long ago there's no possible way to prove any of it, though," Vincent said, "it's all just theories."

"Either way the file is a warning and it shouldn't be ignored, I've seen what happens firsthand and the worst is still to come," Cloud said.

"Your existence is on the brink of disaster again then is it?" asked Vincent.

"Yeah," Cloud replied.

"Ah, well, if you're like us you should be used to it by now."


	25. Peacemaker

--Alrightee, well, I'd like to put a little message before I begin here. For all those reviewers who like Vincent…and those who have his name in every possible review and ask where he went when I don't mention him—you know who you are specific person I will not name—these next few chapters will involve two, yes, TWO, Vincents…I expect this won't change anything but by the time I'm done I'm aiming for the fact that everyone will be so sick of Vincent kicking ass that they'll want more Cait Sith...if that's possible…onward with the story.

**Chapter 24**

**Peacemaker**

For the second time the world seemed delayed and it appeared to take a moment for it to catch up with Vincent. Then everything was as it should be and he and Samael stood, predictably, in the middle of a green field.

"You know," Sam said looking at Vincent, "one of these days we should try not teleporting on to a large green field of grass."

"Last time we teleported on to a large field of burnt away grass," Vincent pointed out.

Sam nodded, "That does add a little variety, next time I say we go for snow."

"So what are we…" Vincent heard a noise he could have recognized even if he were deaf, "…gunshots."

Sam looked around cautiously, "The Outcasts are already here, I know that, you see anyone?"

"Nothing," Vincent said, "unless it was a very bad sniper it's too far away to be near us."

"Keep your head on a swivel," Sam said.

Vincent assumed that meant the same thing as "be careful," but didn't bother asking. He drew his revolver and walked forward just behind Sam.

"Okay, tall dark and shadowy, we're looking for an artifact you're familiar with," Sam said. "You of course remember your good old friend the Peacemaker?"

"The gun?" asked Vincent.

"Right," Sam said.

"I used it a long time ago, that's the artifact?" asked Vincent.

"That it is," Sam said, "the only thing we've got going for us is that you're the only one who knows where it is."

"Kalm," Vincent said.

"The Outcasts probably know that much, where in Kalm?" asked Sam.

"One of the houses, you have to go up in the attic and it's in a box," Vincent said.

"That's what I'm talking about," Sam said smiling, "I knew you were the man for the job. Okay, now we just gotta go through insurmountable odds and grab it and then escape back through insurmountable odds. You've fought worse, right?"

"Probably," Vincent agreed.

"Cool," Sam said, "let's go see what we're up against."

The two made their way to Kalm, continuing to look around cautiously, Sam was expecting a large force and wasn't exactly sure if they'd have scouts out looking for enemies.

The walk was clear and Kalm came into view, they were still a great distance away but Sam stopped.

"Let's accessorize a bit shall we?" asked Sam.

Vincent knew better than to ask.

Sam snapped his fingers and something cylindrical appeared in his hand, "Sha-zam!"

He handed the item to Vincent.

"A sniper scope," Sam said, "tell me what you see at Kalm."

Vincent fixed the scope on his revolver.

"Like dress-up Barbie but with bullets," Sam said cheerfully.

Vincent ignored him and looked through the scope; it appeared as if he were only standing a few feet away. It was then he saw what they were up against.

Vincent handed his gun to Sam, he looked through the scope.

"Damn, that is a lot of Outcasts," Sam said, "oh, hello, I know him."

"Who?" asked Vincent.

"The boss, I guess," Sam replied, "Foret, old buddy, he knows I'm coming."

"Foret," Vincent repeated his name, "bad news?"

"Yeah, his name means _Forest_ in French," Sam said, "but that's not the bad news."

Vincent, again, didn't ask.

"The bad news is I completely missed an accent, for it to be the French word I'd need a little roof looking thing over the 'e'…"

"Sam," Vincent cut him off, "who's Foret?"

"I told you, he's _forest_ in…"

"Don't make me shoot you," Vincent said deadpan.

"Alright, alright," Sam said handing Vincent his gun, "Foret and I used to work together a lot, he's an unarmed fighter."

"Martial Arts?" asked Vincent.

"He's like the Tifa of the Outcasts," Sam said, "except with not nearly as big…"

Vincent's red eyes looked at him.

"…I was gonna say _eyes_, not nearly as big _eyes_."

Vincent looked back at Kalm.

"_Breasts_!" blurted Sam. "Uh-oh, whatcha gonna do now crimson boy, I _said it_!"

Vincent backhanded Sam and knocked him off his feet.

Sam stood up with a hand over his nose, "Good one."

"Thank you," Vincent replied.

Sam shook his head a few times.

"So what's the plan?" asked Vincent.

"Well, if Tifa were here we could distract them all with her…"

"I will kill you," Vincent cut in.

"…Masterful Martial Arts, see you never let me finish my sentences."

"Tifa's Masterful Martial Arts aren't…"

"_Breasts_!" Sam cut in trying to hold back a laugh and failing.

Vincent drew his gun and aimed it at him.

"_Okay_, I'm sorry!" Sam said ducking and trying to get away from Vincent's weapon. "You're just so dark and distant and shit, your lack of humour was making me depressed. I've got a plan, I do, really."

Vincent holstered his gun.

"You keep that scope on and use it to take some guys out from afar, that pistol got good range?" asked Sam.

"The best," Vincent replied.

"Cool, I'll go bring everyone in your sights," Sam said walking toward Kalm. "When I duck down, that's your cue. Try not to hit Foret, though, I want him."

Vincent nodded.

"Let's do it," Sam said and jogged off toward Kalm.

Sam made it just outside Kalm in about ten minutes and someone on a rooftop called out. Within seconds most of the Outcasts were standing in front of Sam, weapons readied.

"Hey, guys, how's it going?" asked Sam.

No one said anything.

"You guys would be more popular if you talked, maybe sang," Sam said. "Call yourselves 'Outkast'…well that's taken, but not around here, they don't have anything like that here. You know them though, right?"

Silence from the Outcasts.

"Heyyyyyyy yaaaaa! You know!"

Nothing.

"Tough crowd," Sam said. "Okay, take me to your leader."

Silence still.

"Are we waiting for Foret here or is there a staring contest I don't know about?" asked Sam. "Okay, guys, I don't like waiting that much so I'm gonna let my buddy open the door here, see you guys later, okay?"

Sam dropped to the ground as a wave of bullets ripped through the ranks of Outcasts.

Foret was a few feet from confronting Sam when the men in front of him started dropping like flies. Bullets flew at him and he jumped backward into a flip that evaded every bullet. One of his boots hit a passing bullet and popped it into the air. As Foret landed on his feet he caught the bullet he'd kicked and looked at it in his hand.

"Vincent Valentine," Foret muttered.

Vincent's bullets continued to rip through the Outcasts only stopping to reload and continue.

Sam was ducking and dodging under attacking Outcasts looking for Foret. Sam elbowed an Outcast and pushed him forward using him as a battering ram to push through the others. Vincent's precise shooting cleared Outcasts all around Sam while narrowly missing Sam himself.

Sam broke through the last of the Outcasts and threw his battering ram to the ground. In front of him stood the man he was looking for.

"Heeeeeerrrreeee's Sammy!" Sam said smiling, Foret grinned as well.

"It's been far too long," Foret replied.

"Oh, I know, I missed you," Sam said.

"I hadn't expected a sniper, seems you got the drop on me, Samael," Foret said.

"I do that sometimes," Sam replied. "Come on, let's stop playing games, you're no idiot, Foret, you gotta realize following Fear will just end up destroying everything. Bringing back the Cetra isn't possible."

"I'm willing to try," Foret replied.

"And if Fear's wrong and it destroys everything, you're okay with that?" asked Sam.

"I won't be alive to worry about it," Foret said shrugging, "neither will anyone else. I always knew you never wanted to achieve the goals the rest of us did, you just joined for Charna."

Sam nodded, "Yeah, because I and a few others knew following Fear would lead to the destruction of everything, Foret, and that goes against the very principles of the Cetra. It's in the rule book you know, Section 52, Paragraph 10, Line 3: 'A Cetra should definitely try to avoid destroying everything in known existence…it's just a really bad idea 'n' stuff.'"

"I've never seen that book," Foret said, "I'll have to check out the library for that one."

"Come on," Sam said, "tell me this is a ruse, tell me you're playing with him, you're not actually going along with Fear are you?"

"I'm afraid I am, Samael," Foret said, "it's Cetra or nothing at all."

"Then I have to stop you," Sam said.

"Maybe me, but can you bring yourself to kill your beloved Charna?" asked Foret. "You know well enough Fear will use her against you."

"If I have to, I will," Sam said. "Aeris is my new girlfriend anyways; she just doesn't know it yet."

"Ah, yes, the last of us, is she here as well?" asked Foret.

"_May_-be, _may-_be not," Sam said in a sing song voice.

"Sorry we couldn't catch up for longer, Sammy, but I have a gun to find," Foret said. "If you survive I suppose I'll see you soon."

"You know it," Sam replied.

Foret jumped backward into a flip and a line of six black creatures took his place standing in front of Sam.

"Shadows," Sam muttered. "Son of a bitch got Shadows from Fear."

The blank creatures moved toward him.

"Alright, let's boogey!" Sam ran forward and jumped, he kicked with both feet and knocked over two of the Shadows opening a spot between them to break through and roll to his feet. He spun and the Shadows were giving chase.

One slashed horizontally and Sam stepped back, as its second black blade missed Sam moved forward and punched the black thing in the face, it staggered backward. Then Sam moved his right hand straight upward and the Shadow shot straight up in the air.

Another Shadow attacked and Sam rolled out of the way, he swiped with his hand and all of the Shadows were knocked off their feet. Sam raised both hands and two Shadows floated in the air, he closed his hands into fists and both Shadows appeared to stop moving and just die. They dropped to the ground and disappeared. Sam looked at the remaining four Shadows and saw there were in fact now seven.

"Kill two; add three," Sam muttered, "wonderful."

Sam spun to look behind him, another four Shadows made eleven, Sam was now surrounded. All Shadows moved in at once and they were all thrown backward at once by Sam. He jumped and landed with both feet on the face of one of the Shadows, its body twitched and then died. Sam turned and kicked an approaching Shadow in the stomach, then punched it in the chin sending it sailing through the air.

Sam made another count; there were fourteen Shadows this time around.

"Son of a lawn gnome," Sam muttered. "More of them."

They moved in on Sam.

"Alright you bastards, let's go," Sam growled.

The two in front of him were blown off their feet by gunshots, three behind him followed suit two more fell from gunshots to the ground at his left and something crimson shot in from the right. It grabbed Sam and carried him off just as a Shadow attacked the air where he had stood.

Vincent set Sam down on a rooftop.

"Good call," Sam said.

"They keep multiplying," Vincent said.

"Yeah, every time I kill one a few more get added," Sam said.

"I'll take care of them," Vincent said and pointed to a house off to their right, "that's where the Peacemaker is, when you have it let me know."

"Your gun won't be able to kill the Shadows easily," Sam warned.

Vincent's eyes flashed a bright yellow and for a moment his face looked different, "I don't really plan on using my gun all that much."

"Never doubted you for a second tall dark and shady," Sam said nodding, "have fun."

Sam jumped off the roof and headed to his destination.

Vincent closed his eyes and in a bright burst of red he became Chaos once more…a sad day in the life of a Shadow, no question.

Chaos took flight; large red wings catching the air and letting him sail down to the ground. The Shadows turned to look at him.

Chaos grinned ever so slightly before he attacked.

The Shadows attempted to fight back but they didn't stand a chance. Chaos took flight and streaked past them, landing on the other side of the group. Every one of the Shadows slowly fell apart in different places. Some were missing heads; others' bodies were severed from their waists and other combinations.

Within seconds twenty Shadows took their place.

A slightly altered version of Vincent's voice came through; vampire-like teeth were visible when his mouth opened.

"Let's see how long it takes until there aren't any of you left," Chaos growled and shot toward the group of Shadows. He tore the first one to come near him apart with a simple backhand. Two more attacked and Chaos simply grabbed them by the necks, he knocked them together so hard they virtually shattered.

Chaos' silver clawed hand moved up to block one of the Shadows' blades and he used his free hand to punch a hole right through the creature's stomach. Chaos let it drop to the ground and turned to his next enemy. Two Shadows came in jabbing with their blades, Chaos stepped back a bit and then shot forward in flash of crimson. The streaks made a "Z" pattern and all the remaining Shadows were torn to pieces.

Thirty Shadows appeared in their place.

Soon Chaos didn't even really have to move, all he had to do was stand in a spot and spin in a three-sixty, his enemies were so great in number now the sheer mass of them didn't allow for any stoppage in the attacks. Chaos suddenly was airbourne; he then shot back downward and smashed into the middle of the group of Shadows. A wave of crimson exploded outward incinerating every Shadow in the area.

Chaos stood silently for a moment and then nearly one hundred Shadows reappeared ready to attack.

Chaos was starting to get very bored.

§

Inside the house, Sam ran up to the attic and found a box. He opened it and sure enough, inside, was the grey revolver he was looking for. The Peacemaker.

Sam ran down back to the front door, he got outside.

"Samael," Foret said landing on the ground behind Sam.

"Sorry, buddy, gotta go," Sam said.

Foret jumped through the air and landed in front of Sam.

"Give me the gun, Sam, I'll only ask once," Foret said holding out his hand.

"Get outta the way, I'll ask twice…for contrast, you know," Sam said.

Foret growled and charged in at Sam, Sam flipped backward, and his feet connected with Foret's chin sending him sailing head over heels. Sam landed back on his feet.

"Last time," Sam said, "get outta the way."

Foret popped to his feet and moved in on Sam.

Foret attacked with a flurry of punches that Sam managed to duck and dodge barely. Foret kicked Sam in the stomach and then he spun and kicked him again in the side of the head. Sam stood up again, Foret attempted another punch but Sam's telekinesis stopped the attack in mid air.

Sam shoved his hand forward and Foret shot backward into a brick wall.

Foret used his feet to hit the brick wall and push off, flying back at Sam. Sam ducked and let Foret sail overhead.

Foret hit the ground and rolled to his feet. The Outcast moved forward, ready to press the attack again, Sam spun around and kicked. Foret sidestepped the attack and grabbed Sam sending him into a throw that would have had Sam landing on his head; instead Sam was floating a few inches from the ground. Sam righted himself in the air and continued to hover.

Foret attacked and kicked, Sam's telekinesis allowed him to float left and right to dodge the attacks. Sam kicked forward and knocked Foret backward.

§

Back with the Shadows, Chaos was shooting back and forth effortlessly tearing enemies apart left and right. His clawed hand tore limbs off the creatures as he passed by.

One Shadow came in from behind and jabbed forward, sure it had the drop on Chaos. It took the black thing a few moments to realize Chaos was now somehow standing behind him, impossibly fast. Chaos' clawed hand jabbed through the Shadow's back.

Chaos looked around.

"I've had enough of this," Vincent's voice growled from Chaos.

Chaos shot upward and sailed over Kalm, he spotted Sam and dived down.

Sam ducked under an attack from Foret and punched him in the stomach. Foret sidestepped and came around with a punch that would have connected with Sam's face had a creature with wings not picked him up and flew away with him.

"Damn," Foret growled.

§

Above Kalm Sam looked up to see something that slightly resembled Vincent's face, Chaos carried Sam in his right hand as they flew away from Kalm.

"I coulda taken him," Sam said.

Chaos said nothing and set down a few minutes later just outside of Fort Condor.

Chaos gave way to Vincent and both he and Sam stood looking past Fort Condor out at the water.

"Here you go," Sam said handing Vincent the Peacemaker. "It's not nearly as powerful as your gun now but you should hold on to it, keep that sniper scope too, consider it a gift from your totally excellent friend Sam."

Vincent nodded and put the Peacemaker away safely, "Where do we go now?"

"Wherever the wind takes us," Sam replied.

"That's a little too random for my liking," Vincent replied.

"Yeah, me too," Sam said, "well, I'd like to check on our buddies, but I think the Omega Materia takes priority."

"So what are we suppose to do with it?" asked Vincent.

"I'll handle that," Sam said, "we just gotta get there."

"Where?" asked Vincent.

"We have to take the Materia back to Centre Time," Sam said, "and then shatter the thing and spread the shards to the wind."

"I thought Centre Time was locked," Vincent said.

"Well, it is," Sam said, "but I'll find a loophole, I always do."


	26. The Other Other WhiteMateria

**Chapter 25**

**The Other Other White…Materia**

Vincent and Samael sat inside the now peacefully silent Fort Condor; the place was deserted after the battle with Shinra had been won. They both sat at a round wooden table.

"Getting back to Centre Time isn't just a matter of finding a way around the locked door," Sam was explaining, "it's a matter of getting around the guards guarding the way around the said locked door."

"Who guards the door to Centre Time?" asked Vincent.

"The keepers of time, I believe you've been acquainted with them," Sam said, "Shadows."

"The things that attacked us guard our time?" asked Vincent.

"I'd say that's ironic but nobody really knows what ironic means, they just say 'wow, that's ironic' and hope someone doesn't know the dictionary definition and call them on it," Sam rambled, "but yeah, that's probably ironic."

"They'll stop someone even if they're from Centre Time?" asked Vincent.

"You and I are intruders to them, nothing more, you can't prove to a mindless creature that you're not against them."

"So what's your loophole?"

"My loophole is the fact I have someone from Centre Time."

"Me?'

"You."

"What do I have to do?"

Sam shrugged, "Nothing, just when we come to our destination make sure you're right beside me I'll do the rest."

Vincent nodded.

"At this point it's clear that the only true key back to Centre Time is Cloud himself, and he has to willingly open the door," Sam said. "Lucky for us we have me and you."

"If you can bypass the door can't the Outcasts?" asked Vincent.

Sam smiled, "You're not really getting it, I'm not just a person that can bypass a locked door, tall dark and shady, I'm the _only_ person who can bypass a locked door."

"You claim to be the only person in existence who can find these loopholes of yours?"

"Exactly," Sam said, "and up until now I was just some dead Cetra, eh?"

"And an idiot," Vincent added.

"Well, another one of my many talents."

"So what exactly is involved with getting to the door?" asked Vincent.

"There's a sort of Mirror World outside of Centre Time, like the doormat to Centre Time's door if you will," Sam explained. "This Mirror World is identical to Centre Time; everything looks exactly the same. Cross the doormat and you end up at the door, unfortunately you will hit a locked door that can only be opened by a key from _inside_ of Centre Time."

"Due to our situation the key is now outside of Centre Time and is fair game," Vincent guessed.

"Right, the only thing the key, or Cloud, has going for it, or him, is the fact that no one really knows who the key is. Even more deceptive is the fact that everyone expects this key to be, in the literal sense, a key. In fact it's a person: Cloud."

"They didn't want to make it easy for anyone," Vincent commented.

"That does make sense being that Centre Time is the most important," Sam said. "In any case, past the Shadows is another obstacle."

"Other than the locked door?" asked Vincent.

Sam nodded, "The door is invisible."

"Invisible door," Vincent muttered. "You don't know where it is?"

"No one does," Sam said, "when I say 'door' I don't really mean there's going to be your stereotypical door standing out on a beach somewhere…if this were a Stephen King that might not be such a stretch…but in fact it's more like a portal."

"How do we locate it?" asked Vincent.

"We need White Materia," Sam said.

"We have that," Vincent replied.

"No, we need the other other White Materia," Sam said.

Vincent closed his eyes and shook his head, "Where do we find that?"

"Conveniently enough, it's kept on the Mirror World for the key to find."

"I assume it's guarded as well?"

"Shadows," Sam said, "place is full of them."

"Where's the Materia?" asked Vincent.

"I don't know," Sam said.

Vincent closed his eyes and shook his head for the second time, "So how do we find it?"

"We use the White Materia," Sam said.

"The one we have," Vincent said.

"Right," Sam said nodding. "That's why the Outcasts need this Materia, it's essential to finding the item that finds the door."

"And the other artifacts?" asked Vincent.

"Necessary to enact other parts of their plan," Sam said, "as far as I know the Black Materia is for controlling the Ancient Black, and the Peacemaker is for opening the door to the Planet."

"The door to the Planet?" asked Vincent.

"In a sense, yes, as far as I know their plan basically requires them to access the Planet's core and manipulate it to create a mass resurrection of Cetra from the Lifestream. The only way to access the core is with the gun you have now, the Peacemaker. In itself it is a weak weapon but used on the lock of the door to the Planet it becomes the key to everything."

"We have two of their five needed artifacts," Vincent said.

"They have one as far as I know," Sam added, "the Black Materia. Their plan has a wrench in it, for it to work they need every single artifact as well as Professor Gast."

"Shouldn't we be focusing on getting the remaining two artifacts before the Outcasts do?" asked Vincent.

"No, their plan is halted anyways, right now we need to use the Omega Materia," Sam said, "if we allow Omega to awaken and do his thing then it won't matter how many artifacts anyone has."

Vincent nodded, his logic was undeniable. Omega took priority.

"We may already be short on time," Sam said, "if you're ready we should get going right now."

Vincent nodded.

"Alright, now, as soon as we hit Mirror World we'll probably encounter enemies right away so be prepared," Sam warned.

Vincent stood up and drew his revolver.

Sam snapped his fingers.

§

Vincent and Sam traveled between planets and through stars, stopping and reappearing in knee-high snow with cold winds blowing in their faces.

"There," Sam said smiling, "we landed on snow this time."

"Are we anywhere near where we need to be?" asked Vincent.

Sam pulled out the White Materia and looked at it, "No, not even close."

Vincent nodded, "Good, get us out of here then."

Sam snapped his fingers and they reappeared in a field of grass.

"Back to the old fashioned endless green field of grass then I guess," Sam said, he looked at the Materia. "Okay, that's better; we need to go a few miles…"

"_Down_!" yelled Vincent pushing Sam aside and firing his revolver blowing a pair of Shadows off their feet.

Sam composed himself, "I was going to say a few miles _to the left_, but _down_ works too if you consider which way we might be facing."

"More coming," Vincent warned ignoring Sam.

Sam looked and saw a group of Shadows moving in from their right side.

"This is small-time compared to how many are here, we should move while their numbers are small," Sam suggested.

The two ran, Sam held out the White Materia like a compass.

"We're getting closer," Sam said.

Vincent turned while running and fired back at their pursuers.

"How far?" asked Vincent.

Sam looked around, "Ten minutes."

"Too long, they'll catch up," Vincent growled, "I'll slow them down, keep going."

Sam nodded and sprinted off.

Vincent reversed his momentum and jumped into a back flip; he sailed over his enemies and rained bullets down on them. He landed behind the group of Shadows. The ones that were hit were getting back up and the others were turning to move on Vincent.

Vincent ducked and evaded attacks left and right, he slashed with his golden clawed hand clearing a path to the other side of the Shadows. Vincent saw Sam was almost out of sight and figured he'd done his job well enough; it was time to catch up.

Vincent started backpedaling firing at the Shadows as he ran; mostly he fired at their legs for the best chances to knock them on the ground. After he had them at a safe distance Vincent turned and ran to catch up with Sam.

Sam wasn't paying any attention to where he was, all he was focused on was the White Materia that was telling him to go straight, keep going straight.

Right into the water.

Sam fell off dry land suddenly and splashed into the water; he swam to the surface and made sure to hold on to the Materia in his hand.

"Water," Sam muttered.

"This is no time for a swim," joked Vincent.

Sam smiled, "If I wasn't so proud of you for saying that joke I would definitely swear at you."

"The White Materia is in the water?" asked Vincent.

Sam checked his White Materia, "Under water, actually."

"Under water," Vincent muttered.

"You have problems swimming, tall dark and shady?" asked Sam.

"I'm not partial to it, no," Vincent replied, "lead on, you know where you're going."

"Hopefully," Sam said and went below the surface.

Vincent dived into the water behind him.

Vincent opened his eyes and saw a large world of blue around him, Sam was a few feet ahead and looking back at Vincent. Vincent swam forward, keeping his gun out just in case; he knew the thing would fire under water just as well as it would above.

Vincent was constantly on the look out for submerged enemies as he followed Sam. Ahead Vincent could make out a familiar sight: the Under Water Mako Reactor. Sam seemed to be heading toward the reactor; the Materia must be hidden there.

Then, to Vincent's shock, something black in colour seemed to explode right through the reactor. It tore the construct to pieces and blew right through toward Sam and Vincent.

Sam attempted to turn and swim away but the creature grabbed him on its way by.

Vincent recognized the creature was identical to the creature he'd killed back in the City of the Ancients when he had become Chaos.

Vincent fired his gun, the bullets knifed through the water and connected with the Shadow. It appeared to flinch when the rounds hit it but it didn't really slow it down any. It shot forward and likewise picked up Vincent in its claws.

The Shadow exploded up through the surface of the water with its two prisoners in hand.

"Look, Vincent, in the thing's mouth!" Sam yelled.

Vincent looked at the Shadow's mouth, inside was a small white object.

"The Materia?" asked Vincent.

Sam nodded.

Vincent growled and jabbed his golden claw into the now airbourne Shadow's claw forcing it to let him go. Vincent quickly aimed up and fired while falling, two shots freed the Materia from the Shadow's mouth and another three freed Sam. All three were falling toward the ground.

Sam reached out and used his telekinesis to pull the White Materia to his hand, the Shadow follow the Materia and attacked Sam.

Vincent saw this however and emptied his revolver into the back of the Shadow. Vincent reloaded his weapon and started firing again, enough shots hit the Shadow so that it decided to turn its attention to Vincent.

The Shadow sailed toward Vincent and tried to catch him in its mouth to finish him off quickly. Vincent instead fired his gun into the Shadow's open mouth and managed to use the time he'd gained from that to get on the creature's back. He drove his claw into the Shadow to steady himself and then began firing his revolver into the creature at point-blank range. The Shadow cried out and cut sharp turns and did flips in an attempt to throw off its enemy.

The Shadow then turned back and nose-dived toward the water. Vincent made certain his claw was firmly planted in the creature and hung on. They both shot into the water at a speed that might have killed someone else, but not Vincent. As soon as he shook off the impact he began firing away with his gun again. The creature appeared annoyed by the continued assault and decided to try its luck in the air again. It shot upward and out of the water with another magnificent splash. Vincent still managed to stay on its back.

Vincent made a spectacular display of reloading with only one hand and then went back firing his gun into the same spot he had been firing at the whole time. The Shadow tried a different tactic; it flew low and then turned upside down dragging Vincent along the ground. Eventually Vincent's claw gave out and he was tossed on to the ground, he tumbled and came to a halt. He got to his feet after a moment and followed the Shadow with his eyes.

After watching the creature's movements for a moment Vincent reloaded his gun and charged forward in an attempt to intercept the flying creature. The Shadow was still flying low trying to find the White Materia it had lost. It flew in a straight line and Vincent was running forward a few feet ahead of the creature in a good position to cut it off. The Shadow noticed Vincent coming far too late to do anything about it.

Vincent jumped through the air and landed on the Shadow's back again, this time Vincent fired his gun into the black creature's head, hoping that it would damage it more attacking there. The Shadow cried out again as bullets peppered the top of its head. The creature started flying straight up, slowly becoming more and more slanted until it was completely vertical, and Vincent slid off its back.

By this time they were very high in the air and Vincent's fall to the ground was no short trip. The Shadow knew it had time to attack its enemy while he was falling helplessly through the air. The creature dived down, ready to take its revenge. Vincent flipped in mid-air and came around so he was falling in a position to fire upward at his flying enemy. His gun exploded over and over sending bullets into the creature that slowly wore it down. The Shadow swiftly shot to the right and knocked Vincent's gun out of his hand. Then the Shadow shot forward and turned around ready to shoot back up and finish off its enemy.

Vincent managed to turn to the left with enough momentum to avoid the Shadow. Vincent felt the creature shoot by barely missing him. Then he turned in the air again and spotted his revolver falling downward. Vincent knew he'd need a push to get enough speed to catch up with his gun. He looked over his shoulder and saw the Shadow coming back for him, mouth open, ready to swallow him whole if that's what it took to finally kill its enemy.

He saw where his push was going to come from.

Vincent positioned his feet so as soon as the Shadow was in range Vincent used them to pry open the Shadow's mouth. In turn the creature's momentum pushed Vincent forward enough that when the Shadow broke off Vincent was close enough to grab his gun again.

The Shadow came around for another attack, Vincent dexterously put a boot on the incoming Shadow's head and popped himself upward, sailing over the creature's back. Along the way Vincent emptied his gun into the creature. The black thing cried out in pain and shot forward, ready to come around yet again. Vincent was falling once more and used this time to reload.

The Shadow was back and shot straight toward Vincent who fired his gun at the approaching creature. The rounds exploded into the monster's face forcing it to veer off course and miss Vincent. Vincent spun around and followed the creature as it sailed by, spraying him with as many bullets as possible before it was out of range.

This time the Shadow was climbing upward, it then did a back flip and started coming straight downward to attack Vincent from above.

Vincent stared the Shadow down with his red eyes and quickly reloaded his gun and raised it upward. Vincent fell downward firing straight up at the creature as it came down, mouth open, sure it had him this time.

Vincent reloaded twice and emptied as many bullets into the Shadow before it finally reached him. Vincent then quickly drove his golden clawed hand into what he assumed was the creature's chin or at least bottom jaw. Vincent had damaged the Shadow enough that when Vincent kicked it with his feet the creature spun around so that it was now falling down with Vincent on top of it.

The ground was close now, rushing up toward them very quickly, Vincent fired his gun into the creature's bottom jaw to keep it from trying to right itself in the air.

At the very last moment Vincent withdrew his clawed hand and pushed off from the Shadow shooting back up into the air. He positioned himself so his feet were pointed to the ground and emptied his revolver into the falling Shadow for good measure.

The Shadow had nothing left; it couldn't even begin to right itself in time. It smashed hard into the ground and made a huge crater with its body weight. The impact combined with a countless number of bullets completely removed every last bit of energy from the creature. It sat for a moment silently and then disappeared in a cloud of what appeared to be smoke.

Vincent landed a few feet away from where the Shadow went down, right in front of Sam.

Vincent hit the ground in a crouch, Sam looked over to where the Shadow landed to confirm it was dead and then looked back at Vincent.

"Can't say I've ever seen a non-Cetra kill one of those so fast," Sam said, "not bad, with the mid-air acrobatics and whatnot you earned a strong 7 out of 10."

Vincent stood up, reloaded his revolver, and holstered it, "Only 7?"

"If you kill all of _them_, I'll give you a 9," Sam said gesturing behind Vincent to what appeared to be at least thirty of the same Shadows they had been running from before they hit the water.

Vincent looked over his shoulder and then back at Sam, "All of them?"

"Yeah," Sam replied.

Vincent's eyes flashed yellow, "Alright."


	27. Outpost Seven

**Chapter 26**

**Outpost Seven**

Cloud sat silently against a wall watching the others move around excitedly attempting to figure out how to work the machine. Under Aeris' guidance workers in the building had made more progress in a few hours than they had in months of working on the project.

Vincent was helping scientists and soldiers alike carry large objects across the room to their designated spots. Everyone with two hands in the base was doing something except Cloud.

"No, to the left more," ordered Professor Hojo, a group of soldiers groaned and shuffled to the left with a large metal object.

"No they were right before," Aeris said, the soldiers groaned again and started back to where they came from.

"But my way is closer to the needed outlet of energy to work it," Hojo said. "Go left."

Soldiers moved left again.

"It doesn't matter, the place is powered by a different source, remember?" asked Aeris, "go back."

One of the soldiers yelled, "Make up your minds this bastard isn't light!"

Vincent stood off to the side watching the scene unfolding with the annoyed soldiers and shook his head slowly. He turned and saw Cloud sitting across the room, Vincent walked over.

"Looks like you're hard at work," Vincent commented.

Cloud looked up as if shocked from a trance, "Yeah, I was just…thinking."

"Of what?" asked Vincent.

"I was knocked unconscious for a while before I came here and while I was out I saw something like…a vision I guess," Cloud said, "it told me to come here, I'm just trying to figure it out."

"I've heard of weirder things happening," Vincent said, "maybe you should try just accepting it instead of trying to explain it."

_You were a lot more philosophical before you were dead, Vincent_, Cloud thought in amusement.

"Maybe you're right," Cloud said.

"Good, now come help me carry this thing that fits on some other thing I can't pronounce," Vincent said.

Cloud nodded and got up.

Cloud and Vincent both spent most of the time picking up and carrying items that neither of them really understood. The bigger items required them to use the assistance of either some other scientists or Shinra soldiers in the area. Between and during lifting objects Cloud and Vincent managed some conversation and Cloud slowly began to learn just how different Vincent was when he was a Turk.

The Vincent Cloud knew hardly talked at all, the old Vincent seemed to have an affinity for holding up a conversation. Cloud understood how the old Vincent could fall in love with Lucrecia and all those other normal things, looking at the Vincent he knew he really couldn't picture all the things he said happening.

Then again, Cloud had to take into consideration the fact that this Vincent might have differences compared to the other Vincent. One major difference being this one hadn't been shot by Hojo. It was possible that the Vincent he knew was different than this one in his younger days; maybe the Vincent he knew had always been dark and distant.

Traveling through existences and time didn't allow for a person to be sure of much of anything.

§

A few miles from the black building in one of the many guard outposts set up by Shinra, two soldiers in blue sat side by side looking out over the field, it had been clear for a week now and it didn't appear they would be encountering any enemies.

Although, since the attack by the mysterious Outcasts Shinra was paranoid and doubled security at outposts. The two soldiers and the others stationed there all held the same view: "they could all be at home right now, instead Shinra decided to toss them out to some outpost." They weren't happy about the situation at all.

Had there not been a member of SOLDIER there keeping them in line they might have all snuck off and left the outpost unmanned.

Had there not been a member of SOLDIER there they wouldn't have spotted the airship off in the distance.

"Hey," said one of the soldiers, "what's that?"

"It's probably just a bird again, Jansson," replied the other soldier who had almost fallen asleep.

"That's a big bird," Jansson said.

"Okay, Jansson, let's see what…" the other soldier stopped talking, "…that's no bird."

"Well, no shit, eh?" Jansson said.

"That's an airship," the other said, "I'll go get Masterson."

The soldier got up and ran into the bunker that served as their temporary place of residence.

James Masterson was one of the many members of SOLDIER who were ordered to supervise an outpost, it was clear whatever they were working on in the black building was very important to Shinra. He had short brown hair and wore the standard uniform of a SOLDIER. Over his back was a thin sheath that held a medium sized, slightly curved blade.

"Sir, we've spotted something on the horizon," a soldier said barging into the bunker.

The SOLDIER turned and looked at him with Mako infused eyes, "What is it?"

"It looks like an airship, sir," the soldier said.

"Show me," James ordered and he followed the soldier out of the bunker.

Indeed, off in the distance James saw not one but two airships headed straight toward them. Though the airships showed no markings of any kind James had been ordered to consider any approaching vehicles or persons as hostiles, whether showing hostility or not.

"Get everyone out here, I'll contact headquarters," James said, the soldier nodded and went back in the bunker.

James pulled out a grey cell phone issued to all SOLDIERs on duty a distance from Shinra HQ. He hit a button and put the phone to his ear.

"I need to speak with the highest ranking member of Shinra, right now," James said urgently. "Yes, a Turk will do fine."

James had a particular respect for the Turks and considered them equals to those at SOLDIER even though some thought the Turks were only above the lowliest soldier in rank and nothing more.

"This is James Masterson at outpost seven; we have possible incoming hostiles, two airships…"

§

"Sir," a blue soldier said coming up to stand beside Vincent, "a call for you from outpost seven."

Vincent turned away from Cloud for a moment and grabbed the phone, putting it to his ear, "This is Vincent Valentine."

He listened to the person on the phone.

"Only two airships?" asked Vincent. "Alright, advise the other outposts, I'll notify headquarters."

Vincent ended the call and looked at Cloud, "We may have company coming."

"Outcasts?" asked Cloud.

"Not sure yet, two airships were spotted coming this way," Vincent said, "I have to let HQ know of the imminent threat; you might want to tell your girl to hurry up."

"My girl?" asked Cloud.

"Yeah, you know, the Ancient, one of the other people around here who should be dead but isn't," Vincent said, "she's telling everyone what to do; we can only work as fast as she can talk."

"Oh, right," Cloud said, "I'll see what I can do."

Vincent nodded and started dialing a number on his phone.

Cloud found Aeris giving a scientist instructions on how to use something.

"Aeris," Cloud said coming up behind her.

"Hey," she said smiling.

"How far along are we?" asked Cloud.

"Well, if we work non-stop we'll have this thing going in around three hours," Aeris said, "give or take."

"How long until we know where we're going?" asked Cloud.

"Not long, actually, Professor Hojo found something in the equipment that will let us control exactly where we want to go," Aeris said, "I guess you were right, Hojo did know, sort of."

"Yeah," Cloud said, the vision had been right, "anyways, we might have trouble on the way so if you can speed this up any, do it."

"Trouble?" asked Aeris.

"An outpost spotted two airships headed this way, they figure it's the Outcasts," Cloud said.

Aeris cursed, "We won't be done in time, Cloud."

"I didn't think this was gonna be as easy as it sounded," Cloud said, "work as fast as you can, I'll see what I can do."

"Be careful," she said.

Cloud walked back to where Vincent was still standing.

"Yes, sir, no question now that they're hostile," Vincent was saying, "I agree, sir. No, we don't really…well, other than myself there is one other person here who would likely be able to hurt them, sir."

"Tell Rufus they won't get anywhere near the building," Cloud said.

Vincent looked at Cloud and said into the phone, "Yes, that was him, yes, sir."

Vincent ended the call.

"What's the verdict?" asked Cloud.

"Outpost seven confirmed the airships are hostile, long range weaponry was fired on them, no one was harmed. They're waiting on reinforcements," Vincent said.

"Let's go," Cloud said.

Vincent nodded, "There's a Shinra Chopper just outside, we can use that."

Cloud and Vincent exited the black building and got in the chopper, Vincent started it up and they were airbourne moments later.

"You can fly one of these?" asked Cloud.

"Wouldn't be much of a Turk if I couldn't," Vincent replied.

On their way to outpost seven Cloud happened to look back and see a group of identical Shinra Choppers off in the distance.

"Reinforcements?" asked Cloud.

Vincent nodded.

They set down at outpost seven, what was once a bunker was now a large hole in the ground with smoke trailing up out of it. A group of soldiers in blue and a single man in a SOLDIER uniform stood a few feet from the crater.

Vincent and Cloud exited the chopper and the SOLDIER walked toward them.

"The airships attacked a few minutes ago, it seemed more like a warning shot than anything," James informed them.

"One hell of a warning shot," Vincent commented.

"If they wanted to kill us all they wouldn't have fired on just the bunker," James said.

"They knew the highest ranking member would probably be inside the bunker," Vincent guessed.

"That makes sense," James said nodding, "I would have been had I not been calling the other outposts."

"The airships haven't fired since?" asked Vincent.

"No," James replied, "they've just continued on their course."

Vincent looked off at the approaching airships.

"Who's this?" asked James gesturing to Cloud.

"Cloud," Vincent said, "one of the people we found to help us with the project, he happens to be quite good with that sword of his."

James looked at Cloud curiously; Cloud guessed he was looking at his Mako eyes.

"Sir," one soldier in blue said running over to James, "the airships are landing, sir."

They all turned and watched as the airships, still a few miles from the outpost, landed and seemed to go silent. No one exited the aircrafts, they just sat there.

"What are they doing?" asked the soldier.

"Waiting, maybe," James said, "doesn't matter; as long as they're out there we have time to wait for reinforcements."

The group of choppers could now be heard in the distance making a beeline for outpost seven.

Vincent looked to Cloud, "You've fought Outcasts before, what do you think they're doing out there?"

Cloud shook his head, "Planning, maybe, I don't know."

"Are they good, these Outcasts?" asked James.

"They're no pushovers," Cloud replied, "nothing we can't handle."

--okay, sorry about making this chapter a little shorter than most but I'm going somewhere tomorrow and I have to get to bed so I can get up early. This also means that you're probably going to have to go one full day without this fanfic…you'll survive, I'm sure. As soon as I'm back the action with Cloud and Vincent begins…dun dun dunnnnnn.


	28. Up and Running

**Chapter 27**

**Up and Running**

By the time Shinra Choppers had landed and unloaded necessary troops and equipment two more airships had appeared on the horizon, one stood out from the rest. Cloud couldn't have known for sure, but he guessed this one was the Outcast flagship. Their leader was on that ship.

"Why haven't they unloaded any troops yet?" asked James Masterson watching the airships intently.

"I think their leader is on the biggest airship," Cloud said, "they were probably waiting for him to give them orders."

"If you're right then I guess he's here," Vincent muttered.

The reinforcement Shinra troops included a lot of blue-clad soldiers with rifles, some commanders wearing their red uniforms, and two more members of SOLDIER. This also included the pilots of the choppers who could fire each choppers' payload of weaponry: four missiles and two heavy chain guns on each.

The two additional Outcast airships hovered for a while over the original two and then the smaller of the two airbourne vessels landed to join the other two.

It seemed the order had come through; men started pouring out of the grounded airships.

"Through us is the straightest route to the building," Vincent said, "if they break through there's no way anyone will have time to get out of there."

"Then we don't let them break through," Cloud said drawing his sword.

The three SOLDIERs drew weapons as well.

"Good a plan as any, I guess," Vincent said, "long range weapons, prepare yourselves!"

Blue suited soldiers moved to the front and readied their weapons; the Outcasts were still a little out of range yet for bullets. Vincent drew his pistol.

Suddenly, one of the SOLDIERs dropped like a stone, he hit the ground dead.

"What the hell?" growled one of the other SOLDIERs.

"Mardra," Cloud muttered, "they have a very good sniper with them."

Vincent cursed and grabbed a soldier, "You, your rifle, give it to me."

The soldier complied and handed it to him.

"He's most likely on the still airbourne ship," Cloud said, "he travels with the leader."

Vincent nodded, "Outdoor platform below the ship."

Cloud heard the shot coming this time and managed to slash to his left and deflect the bullet away from Vincent.

"Thank you," Vincent said briefly and aimed the rifle.

"That's extreme range, sir," one soldier said.

Vincent ignored him and stared down the sights of the rifle, it wasn't nearly adequate enough for long distance aiming.

Though it appeared, Turk or not, that Vincent Valentine had always been very good with a gun.

Vincent let out his breath slowly and pulled the trigger.

§

Across at the _Cetra Resurrection, _Mardra was taking aim at Cloud who had deflected his previous shot. Only out of the corner of his eye did Mardra notice the flash of a gun being fired. Then a bullet imbedded itself in Mardra's shoulder, the Outcast growled and dropped his rifle on the deck.

"Damn it!" he growled putting a hand over his left shoulder. He picked up his rifle and ran inside; a second bullet narrowly missed him as he entered the door.

§

"I think I hit him," Vincent said handing the soldier his rifle back, "not fatal though."

"They're moving," James said.

The Outcasts were moving forward, there appeared to be at least fifty of them if not more.

"Try and get as many as possible with long range before they get here," Vincent ordered, "someone get the choppers in the air, fire at will!"

Everyone with a gun opened fire; Vincent moved forward and started firing off shots with his pistol. The sheer number of Outcasts made even stray bullets find targets, some managed to deflect bullets or block somehow, most were cut down.

The Outcasts only had to make their way up a small hill and they would be right on top of their enemies, there were still a lot of them left.

Choppers took flight and strafed over the Outcasts, each firing a volley of missiles that wiped out entire groups of Outcasts. One Outcast had an automatic weapon and used it to blow away one projectile before it hit the ground. On their return trip the choppers fired chain guns over the Outcasts; this did more damage than the missiles. The bullets cut through the lines of Outcasts from above.

Then there was a loud noise, a large blue beam of some kind seemed to explode out from the Outcast flagship and incinerated two of the Shinra Choppers.

"What the hell was that?" asked Vincent.

"We have to disarm that airship," James said. "That weapon alone could wipe us out."

The Outcasts reached their enemies; they began to cut through the soldiers that couldn't fire fast enough.

"Back them up, I'll take care of it," Cloud said kicking an Outcast that broke through backward and then letting Vincent fire his pistol to finish him off. "I'll need a chopper."

Vincent nodded to the one they themselves had taken to get there, "I'll drive."

Vincent got in and started up the chopper, "What's your plan?"

"I saw where that beam comes from," Cloud said, "all we have to do is disrupt that area. I'd go inside and try and cripple it completely, but there's so many Outcasts in there it would take too long."

"Alright," Vincent said, "I'll get you over it, then."

Vincent got the chopper in the air and headed off toward the airship, showering the Outcasts with bullets as he passed by.

The Outcast flagship fired its beam again.

Vincent growled and pulled the chopper to the left barely avoiding the beam, the chopper shuddered due to the near miss.

"They must need time to recharge after each shot," Cloud said.

"Then we have our time limit," Vincent said and shot the chopper forward as fast as he could make it go.

It wasn't fast enough.

"It's firing again," Cloud muttered, there was no way Vincent could move the chopper out of range.

"Fire through this!" Vincent yelled and fired all four of his missiles at where the beam originated from.

The projectiles exploded on to a bubble that appeared to cover the ship.

"Shields," Cloud said.

Luckily the disruption in the shields affected the beam, it seemed to stop right where the missiles hit.

"How the hell are you gonna get through that shield?" asked Vincent.

Cloud knew how, "Hover right in front of the airship."

"What?" asked Vincent.

"Put the side of the chopper to where the beam comes out," Cloud said, "I'll handle the rest."

"Are you crazy, it'll incinerate you and the chopper!" Vincent exclaimed.

"More likely the chopper than me," Cloud said grinning, "but if all goes well, neither."

Vincent looked at him disbelievingly for a moment but then did as he asked. The opened side door faced where the beam originated from and Cloud held his sword at the ready.

"Stay in the area, I'll need a ride back, I'll be quick," Cloud said.

Vincent nodded.

After a second or two the beam showed signs of beginning to fire, Cloud guessed that whoever controlled the weapon must think the chopper was foolish to stop where it had. Under different circumstances it would have been downright suicidal.

The beam exploded outward and right at Cloud.

Cloud raised his sword in front of him and jumped out toward the beam.

The beam hit the flat of Cloud's blade and suddenly stopped, then it seemed as if Cloud was physically _pushing_ the beam back toward where it came from. Cloud's face was strained and he gritted his teeth as the beam slowly started falling backward.

§

Inside the _Cetra Resurrection _Feardorcha watched as in front of his own eyes this man was actually pushing the ship's laser weaponry _backward_ with just his sword.

"Turn it off!" Fear yelled to the person operating it.

"What?" asked the Outcast.

"_Turn that weapon off right now!_"

Too late…

§

Cloud pushed the beam back its last inch and it backed right up into the area where it had come from. As the beam was swallowed back up it immediately exploded inside the cannon that fired it and seemed to virtually blow the entire front off the airship.

The explosion was spectacular and the flying debris nearly hit Vincent in the chopper.

Cloud landed and rolled over the roof of the airship, coming to a stop somewhere in the middle. He lay there for a moment to catch his breath and then stood up. The beam had done more damage to the airship than Cloud had expected.

Vincent came up right beside the airship with the chopper, "_Get in!"_

Cloud could barely hear the yell, but he heeded it anyways. Cloud jumped back in the side door and the chopper quickly headed back toward what was left of outpost seven.

Cloud looked back and saw the Outcast flagship turning and leaving along with the other airships; they were leaving their men behind.

Ahead the battle with the Outcast was still going on and the dark-clad men hadn't had a chance to notice their transportation was gone. Vincent peppered Outcasts with bullets again as he passed over.

Cloud looked through the side door, he saw two blue-clad soldiers fighting back to back fending off Outcasts. The two wouldn't last much longer.

"Vincent, I'll see you back on the ground," Cloud said.

Vincent looked back and nodded.

Cloud jumped.

Below, the two soldiers were spraying their rifles left and right. The only reason they were still alive was because there were two of them and together they had enough firepower to hold their enemies back. Suddenly, both soldiers ran out of ammunition simultaneously. They knew there was no way they could reload fast enough. The Outcasts moved in for the kill.

They would have succeeded had Cloud not dropped out of the sky and landed right behind one of the Outcasts cutting him down immediately. Then he moved on to slash another across the back, Cloud spun and fluidly kicked another Outcast's legs out from under him. In moments Cloud had cleared the Outcasts away from the two soldiers.

Not waiting for any gratification, Cloud moved on toward the next biggest group of Outcasts he could find.

James and the last remaining SOLDIER were also fending off Outcasts with their swords quite effortlessly. Together they were doing more damage than all of the Shinra soldiers around them.

Cloud jumped and kicked an unsuspecting Outcast in the back sending him tumbling into an Outcast in front of him. The two fell to the ground as Cloud turned to parry an attack from an Outcast to his left. Cloud knocked the Outcast's weapon aside and spun in a thee-sixty which resulted in his sword slicing across the Outcast's neck and severing his head.

Cloud then turned and saw the Outcast with an automatic weapon just before he fired. Cloud deflected some of the shots with his sword, but decided to evade the rest by jumping to the side. When the Outcast was out of ammo Cloud began to make his way toward him.

Another Outcast tried to attack him but was quickly dispatched by Cloud's sword. As his attention was turned back on the gun-carrying Outcast Cloud realized the Outcast now had his gun reloaded and was ready to fire.

A bullet shot over Cloud's shoulder and hit the Outcast dead between the eyes, he fell to the ground. Cloud looked back and saw Vincent with his pistol raised.

An Outcast came at Vincent from the right with a sword, but Vincent saw him out of the corner of his eye and ducked the horizontal slash. Then, as soon as he stood up again, he gave the Outcast a crushing roundhouse kick that knocked him head over heels to the ground. Vincent, still not stopping, turned a full one-eighty and fired three shots from his pistol. All three shots resulted in three dead Outcasts.

After about ten minutes the Outcasts had been utterly wiped out, as soon as they finally realized they had been left behind they tried to retreat but the remaining angry blue-clad soldiers cut them down with rifle fire.

Cloud stood silently in the aftermath looking off into the distance.

"You alright?" asked Vincent standing behind him.

"Yeah," Cloud replied.

"Come on, we should get back to the building, see what progress has been made," Vincent suggested.

Cloud nodded, the two took the same chopper they had used before back to the black building. As soon as they arrived they noticed people standing outside, among them was Gast, Lucrecia, Hojo and Aeris.

Cloud and Vincent stepped off the chopper.

"We heard reports about the battle at the outpost," Gast said walking up to him, "something about you and Vincent flying headlong toward an Outcast airship."

"This guy's crazy," Vincent said shaking his head.

Aeris ran past Gast and hugged Cloud suddenly, "I was so worried."

Cloud looked awkwardly at Aeris and then hugged her back, "They were just grunts anyways."

"I almost wish you'd stop trying to be the hero all the time," Aeris muttered, "but then that wouldn't be like you at all."

Gast gestured for Vincent to come over to him, "Vincent, could you go inside with the other scientists and help them open up two of the tubes, please?"

"The machine's ready?" asked Vincent.

"Ahead of schedule, yes, thanks to Aeris," Hojo said.

"I think I will be accompanying them," Gast said gesturing so they would hold off from asking questions, "for reasons much too complicated to explain in the short time we have."

Vincent and the others just seemed to accept that from the professor.

"I'll get on it," Vincent said and ran inside.

After preparing everything they got everyone inside the building and gathered around the contraption that controlled their destination.

Aeris handed the key to Gast, "Put the key in the slot and set the dial to where we need to go."

Through a series of complicated steps Gast did so and stepped back, "That should do it."

"Alright," Cloud said, "let's go."

Cloud stepped into one of the tubes and Aeris stepped in with him.

"Here we are again," Aeris said smiling.

Gast stepped into the tube beside theirs and smiled, "It appears that I am traveling alone, then."

Aeris wrapped her arms around Cloud similarly to how she had when they had first made this trip.

"Vincent," Cloud said.

Vincent nodded.

"Good luck, I hope you turn out alright in the future in this existence," Cloud said.

It sounded strange but Vincent just smiled and nodded again.

"Lucrecia," Gast said, "if I don't return from this I want you to take over my projects, do with them as you wish."

She nodded.

"Alright, Hojo, hit the button," Gast said.

Hojo did so and the tubes closed.

"Let's hope we're going to the right place this time," Cloud muttered.

In a matter of seconds the three were gone.


	29. Wherefore Art Thou Centre Time?

**Chapter 28**

**Wherefore Art Thou Centre Time?**

Samael ducked under what felt like the millionth attack by a Shadow and kicked its feet out from under it. He quickly smashed a foot down on the creature's face before it could get up.

"That's thirty for me!" Sam yelled.

Chaos landed in front of Sam, "One hundred forty-nine."

"You're cheating," Sam said.

Chaos casually gave a backhand to an approaching Shadow, "One hundred fifty."

"Okay, fine, you win," Sam muttered, "next time we should play a normal game though, like pool or something."

"How do we find this doorway, we've wasted enough time here," Chaos said.

"Let's start by flying out of here, shall we?" asked Sam starting to float upward, Chaos followed suit and flapped his huge wings.

They both left the ground-based creatures behind.

"Now, I'm not entirely sure here, but logically the door would have to be some place the key would think to look," Sam said flying through the air beside Chaos.

"Nibelheim?" asked Chaos.

"Maybe, home town, it's possible," Sam agreed, "but there's no way to know for sure."

"Is that where we're going?" asked Chaos.

"It's a start," Sam said nodding.

They redirected their course and headed toward Nibelheim.

"There's a very Dragonball Z vibe from this whole flying through the air thing," Sam commented. "Seeing as you don't know what that is you might as well just take my word for it."

Chaos ignored him.

"Of course that show really isn't action oriented enough for me, it's like all anime, really," Sam continued, "they manage to drag out fifty episodes, only moving about a mile or so toward their destination the whole time. How do they do this? Well, I'll tell you, because all they do for most of it is stand around and talk about stuff, there might be a fight scene here and there, but mostly it's just the group of good guys walking along incredibly slow with some half-demon guy sporting cat ears. That's not Dragonball Z, that's another show, but you get my point."

"Sam," Chaos said.

"Yeah?'

"Shut up," Chaos replied casually.

"Sorry," Sam said, "but you see I have a valid point?"

"You never have a valid point, Sam," Chaos muttered deadpan.

"Okay, but they gave Inuyasha cat ears, he looks like a fool," Sam said.

"Look straight ahead," Chaos said ignoring Sam yet again.

Sam did and saw their destination, "Nibelheim, bulls-eye, question is: where in Nibelheim?"

"How big is this invisible door?" asked Chaos.

"Big enough, it will reveal itself once we're near enough with the White Materia," Sam said indicating the Materia in his hand.

Sam and Chaos landed in Nibelheim, the town was, predictably, deserted. Devoid of any Shadows it appeared as well.

"Okay," Sam said, "we should start at Cloud's house, go from there."

They entered Cloud's house and Sam walked around it with the White Materia.

"Nothing," Sam muttered, "Tifa's house?"

"Childhood friend," Chaos said nodding.

They moved over to Tifa's house and did another search.

"The piano," Sam said walking over to it, "any significance?"

"I'm not sure," Chaos said.

Sam moved the Materia over it, "Nothing."

"Shinra Mansion, maybe?" asked Chaos.

"There are a lot of places with significance here," Sam said shaking his head.

"We need to find the one with the most significance," Chaos said.

They went over to the Shinra Mansion, as soon as they stepped inside Sam shook his head, "This place has more significance to you than Cloud I don't think it's going to be here."

They searched the mansion anyways, after a few minutes of doing so it appeared Sam had been correct.

"Damn it," Sam muttered, "this isn't looking good."

"We need a place that absolutely affects Cloud in the largest way," Chaos said, "maybe the Northern Crater?"

"Maybe," Sam said.

They needed a place that meant the world to Cloud, a place so significant that if he lost his memory this place would be familiar to him.

Chaos's yellow eyes flashed with an idea, "Of course."

Sam looked at him, "What?"

"City of the Ancients," Chaos said.

Sam shook his head, "Why, that place…"

"…Aeris," Chaos said cutting Sam off.

Sam seemed to understand, "My God, you're right, the altar where Aeris died!"

"It would make sense," Chaos commented.

"My creepy and winged friend you may be right," Sam said, "let's see if you are."

Chaos and Sam took flight yet again and headed toward the City of the Ancients.

"If this is the place then it might be crawling with Shadows," Sam said.

"Like those?" asked Chaos pointing forward.

Sam saw two winged Shadows like the one Vincent had killed before.

"Yes, like those," Sam agreed.

"I'll clear us a path," Chaos said and shot forward leaving Sam behind.

"Show off," Sam murmured.

Chaos rocketed directly at the left-hand Shadow, seeing its enemy heading toward it the Shadow decided to speed up as well.

The two collided head-on…sort of. Where there should have been a collision there was, instead, a dead Shadow.

A crimson streak seemed to shoot right through the Shadow and come out behind it. After a moment the Shadow appeared to fall into two halves and disappear.

"Major show off," Sam said.

The second Shadow turned and attacked Chaos who immediately flew straight upward and avoided the attack. Chaos then shot back down from the sky and landed on the Shadow's back. He drove his silver clawed hand into the Shadow's head and his finger tips appeared as they exited through the creature's bottom jaw. Chaos pulled his arm back out and took flight again, the Shadow slowly dropped out of the sky, dead.

Sam floated up beside Chaos.

"You're kind of sadistic in a cool way," Sam said.

Chaos said nothing and started flying off toward their destination, Sam followed.

They arrived at the City of the Ancients and landed back on the ground.

Inside there were quite a few Shadows, a lot more than there had been outside.

"They really packed 'em in tight here," Sam commented.

Chaos held out his right hand and a large gun appeared in it from nowhere. It looked far too big to be a pistol but Chaos held it easily in one hand. Its large barrel was shaped in such a way that the front of the gun looked to be designed like a cross. The weapon was called Death Penalty, and as soon as Sam saw it he recognized it.

"That was my favourite part of Dirge of Cerberus," Sam said.

"What?" asked Chaos.

Sam shook his head, "Nothing, go ahead, do your path-clearing thing."

Chaos looked toward his enemies and aimed Death Penalty. When Chaos pulled the trigger entire groups of Shadows were destroyed. The extremely powerful bullets in the gun didn't stop when they hit Shadows, instead they kept going right through the next Shadow behind the last one, and then the next Shadow behind that one, all the way back until there were no more Shadows in a straight line to kill.

Chaos fired Death Penalty constantly as he and Sam walked along, the huge gun clearing a convenient path toward their destination.

"After all this I hope we are actually going the right way," Sam said over Chaos' gunfire.

Chaos fired away, killing numerous Shadows, until they finally reached the stairway. They took that downward, it was free of Shadows. As they hit the bottom they found this area, too, was clear.

"Home free," Sam said, "let's see if this works."

Sam used his telekinesis to float himself over the water and on to the altar. He held up the White Materia.

Nothing happened.

Sam cursed, "You gotta be fu…"

Suddenly the altar exploded with light that was so intense it forced both Chaos and Sam to jump back and cover their eyes. As the bright light subsided they both saw that they had come to the right place.

A few feet in front of Sam was a large blue circle floating in the air, it looked like some kind of liquid.

"Is that what we're looking for?" asked Chaos.

"I think so," Sam answered.

Sam floated back across the water to Chaos.

"There's no way to be sure this will take us where we want to go, but once I work out the loophole there's not much chance for turning back," Sam warned.

"So what you're saying is that I have to trust that your guess is correct," Chaos said.

"What I'm saying is that if I'm wrong we could be in trouble," Sam said.

"How often are you wrong?" asked Chaos.

"Not often," Sam said.

"Good, then let's go," Chaos said.

"Give me a minute or two to work things out," Sam said and headed back toward the portal.

Vincent changed back into his old self and looked around while Sam did what he had to do. He wondered to himself what possible hell they could be thrown into if Sam messed up and actually took them to the wrong place.

Even if the portal was right, trying to sneak in without the key might hold consequences Sam wasn't even aware of.

The man was confident enough, and he was a Cetra after all. If there were ever a group of people who could claim to know it all it was them.

"Alright, tall dark and shady, over here," Sam said.

Vincent jumped across to the altar and stood beside Sam facing the portal.

"Long story short I'm going to use the fact you're from Centre Time to…I guess you could say _trick _the portal into thinking for a moment that I might have the key. It won't unlock in the literal sense but I can use that window of time to get us through."

Vincent nodded.

"All you have to do is stand there and hope I can do it right," Sam said smiling, "if you're religious in any way now would be the time to start praying."

§

Feardorcha stood on the bridge of his airship and watched as Outcasts ran around reconstructing the entire front of the vessel. They had landed at a deserted area and began repairs, the ship could still operate, but it did have a large hole in the front of it after all.

"Sir, there's a report from General Foret," an Outcast said to Fear.

"Does he have the artifact?" asked Fear.

"No, sir, it appears the Outcast traitor and another person made away with the Peacemaker," the Outcast reported.

Fear slammed his fist on the control console of his ship, "Tell Foret to get back to the _Resurrection_ at once!"

"He has something else, sir," the Outcast said.

"What is it?" asked Fear.

"He says he may have come across a way to get inside Centre Time, sir," the Outcast said.

Fear looked at the Outcast in surprise, "He found the key?"

"I don't think so, sir, he mentioned something called the _Ancient Black_, apparently he's uncovered a way to use it to get into Centre Time."

"I know of the Ancient Black already, the creature's being unleashed is my doing, what does it have to do with Centre Time?"

"He says he's found a way to follow its path through existences, and seeing as the creature is unleashed only in Centre Time…"

"Yes, of course," Fear muttered, "as I said, tell Foret to come to my ship at once."

"Yes, sir," the Outcast was gone.

"Well done, General," Fear said, "it appears I won't have to kill you after all."

"Sir, the Cetra has disappeared," said an Outcast at one of the ship's control panels.

"What?" asked Fear standing up.

"I don't understand, sir, I was tracking him a second ago. He was still back at the black building we attempted an attack on, now he's gone."

"What about the others?" asked Fear.

The Outcast hit a few buttons, "The other Cetra…the people she was with…all gone, sir."

"Gast must have used the building," Fear muttered angrily. "Tell Mardra to get up to the bridge right now. They've used the machine to go to the power source of the buildings; if we let them destroy it then the Ancient Black won't be able to come through into Centre Time."

"Can't you just redirect them to another existence like you did last time, sir?" asked the Outcast.

Fear shook his head, "I was prepared for the building being used last time so I sent them into the past. I hadn't expected them to meet Samael or expected them to be able to use the machine again. It appears blocking them out is no longer an option."

"I'll get Mardra, sir," the Outcast said standing up and leaving the bridge.

"Now all I have to do is get to Centre Time and get the artifacts back," Fear muttered, "and I can let Mardra get the bastard who killed my brother, after I'm done with him I can kill him myself."

Charna entered the bridge and walked up to Fear, "Fear, we have another report of an artifact, what of the gun?"

"Samael got the Peacemaker," Fear said.

"Damn it," Charna muttered.

"I want someone to find out where he is right now, he is possibly our biggest threat," Fear said.

"I'll find him," Charna said turning to leave.

"No, once Foret gets here let him do it," Fear ordered.

"Why?" asked Charna.

"Because I'm not entirely sure you can kill him, dear," Fear said, "Foret was only his friend, he has no such connection with Samael as you do."

"The past affects nothing, Fear," Charna retorted, "what happened between Samael and I is forgotten. Foret isn't here; I can find Sam much quicker."

Fear shook his head, "If you really want to then go with Foret once he gets here, I'm not sending you alone."

"Why don't you trust me, Fear, you know I'm better than him," Charna said.

"No, Charna, it's not that I don't trust you," Fear said, "it's that I'm not sure you'll survive."

"I just said I could defeat him," Charna argued.

"I don't think it's Sam you should be worried about," Foret said walking on the bridge with some of his remaining men, "it's Vincent Valentine that could be your downfall."


	30. The Right Place

**Chapter 29**

**The Right Place**

Cloud opened his eyes and quickly made sure he wasn't falling through the air like the last time they'd tried to go somewhere. He was relieved to see he was in fact standing on solid ground.

"This looks right," Aeris said.

"It looks the same as where we came from," Gast commented.

"You'll find every different existence looks the same as where we came from," Cloud muttered.

"Alright," Aeris said, looking around, "we have to go to the spot where the black building is in every existence, we know where that is."

"What's the hard part?" asked Gast.

"Probably getting in," Aeris replied.

"Outcasts?" asked Cloud.

"Could be," Aeris said, "I'm not sure, at this point I'm guessing."

"Well, then, lead the way," Gast said, "better guessing than nothing at all."

Aeris started forward and the two followed, they walked past numerous familiar landmarks and likewise similar landscapes. They were all on the lookout for something unusual, something that would stand out. Something to warn them of danger ahead, perhaps.

They walked and continued to do so for quite a while, Cloud thought to suggest Aeris do her levitation thing and maybe cut down some travel time, but if she wasn't suggesting it Cloud trusted there was a reason why she couldn't.

"So do either of you have any idea what we're actually trying to do here?" asked Gast breaking a long silence.

"Not really," Cloud replied.

Aeris nodded, "This existence is the only one that contains the power source for all of the black buildings. If we destroy the power source here all of the buildings go down."

"Then the Ancient Black can't get through to Centre Time," Cloud said.

"Not just that, it will lose its connection to Centre Time entirely, so even if it gets through before we destroy the power source it won't be able to exist in Centre Time without its connection."

"So this place is the key to everything," Gast muttered.

"After we do this the only people we'll have to worry about are the Outcasts," Cloud said.

"Even without the Ancient Black working for them they can still do damage on their own, all they need is the key to Centre Time to get in and the artifacts once they're inside," Aeris said.

They continued to walk, always on the lookout for a black building ahead. On the way Aeris gave Gast a description of the Ancient Black as he had never heard of the thing before.

"Though even the Cetra aren't entirely sure what it looks like on the surface of the Planet, they know well enough it's dangerous," Aeris said. "That's why they try and keep it trapped in the Lifestream."

"Then the Outcasts created the buildings and opened a door for it?" asked Gast.

"That's the idea, yes," Aeris replied.

"And as long as we can destroy the power source we can stop it," Gast said, "sounds simple enough in theory."

"Look," Cloud said pointing straight ahead into the distance, "I think that's it."

Ahead, on the horizon, there was indeed the beginning of a black building appearing.

"It's not big enough," Aeris murmured.

"What?" asked Gast.

"This building has to do what the others do, but also house the power source, it should be bigger so it can contain the power source," Aeris explained.

"Are we in the wrong place again?" asked Cloud.

"The Outcasts couldn't have interfered this time, they couldn't have been prepared for us preparing the machine that fast," Aeris reasoned, "maybe there's a second building."

"Only one way to find out, I guess," Cloud muttered.

They walked up to the building, going over the familiar ridge, there was no other building.

"This is strange," Aeris said.

"Maybe the power source is in a different spot entirely," Gast suggested.

"Possibly," Aeris muttered, "let's see if there's anyone inside the building we could ask."

They approached the entrance of the building and continued to search the area for any sign of life.

"I guess we just knock?" asked Gast.

"Okay, I'm an inspector sent by Shinra, Cloud, you're a member of SOLDIER sent as my escort and professor, you're a scientist," Aeris said.

"I'm not sure I can handle that," Gast joked, "it's a bit of a stretch for me, don't you think? I suggest you make me a professional pilot, possibly an entertainer."

"Alright, just keep the story straight," Aeris said and walked right up to the big black doors.

She knocked.

After a few moments of nothing the doors actually started opening, inside stood two Shinra soldiers in blue with weapons raised.

"Who are you?" asked one.

"I'm an inspector, the president sent us to check on the progress of the machine," Aeris replied.

"We weren't notified," the soldier said.

"But we're here anyways," Gast said.

The soldier looked the three of them up and down, "Who are the other two?'

"This is my escort and the other is a high ranking member of the Science Division," Aeris said, "the president wants to be certain things are getting done here."

They bought the story and let them in.

"Professor Tirren is in Area Two," the soldier informed them.

Aeris guessed this was the head scientist working on the project, the name seemed familiar to her.

The soldier took them to Area Two and looked surprised to see the place was empty.

"Where the hell is he?" muttered the soldier.

He stopped a passing scientist and asked where Tirren went, the man pointed off down a hallway.

"Sometimes he goes down there to think," the scientist explained and then went about his business.

"Just follow that hallway down, he'll be the only person down there," the soldier said, "can you make it on your own, ma'am?"

"Yes, thank you," Aeris replied.

The soldier walked off and Aeris headed toward the hallway. The three of them spotted the professor within seconds. He was pacing back and forth, his foot steps resounding off the walls.

"The foot steps," Cloud muttered, "Aeris, this is the same spot in our building that had the foot steps."

"I guess we know who's making all the noise now," Aeris said, as they approached it took a minute or two for the professor to acknowledge their presence.

"Oh, God, what're you doin' sneaking up on people like that?" asked the professor looking up.

Everyone did a considerably good job of hiding their shock.

He looked exactly like Samael.

Aeris realized why his name seemed familiar, Tirren was Sam's last name, only she knew that out of the three of them however.

Apart from the fact he was wearing glasses and a lab coat which didn't seem to suit him, he did look identical to Samael.

"As much as I enjoy the presence of beautiful women," Tirren said then nodding to the other two, "and her escorts, naturally, I would like to know a few things. The basics…who are you…what do you want…and what's your phone number?"

Aeris opened her mouth to respond but paused.

"The last one was just for you," Tirren said to Aeris, "sorry guys."

Cloud and Gast said nothing.

It appeared Sam didn't change much in any existence.

"I'm an inspector sent by the president, professor," Aeris said, "we're supposed to make sure you're getting the job done here. We've also been sent to check the power source for the machine."

Tirren nodded, "I figured they'd send one of you people around eventually. The power plant is a few miles from here; we can take a chopper after."

Aeris nodded.

Tirren gestured down the hall, "Shall we?"

The three followed Tirren around as he explained the progress and how certain things worked. He talked and sounded like Sam but didn't appear to be like him at all, he still threw in one too many bad jokes during his explanations however.

After about half an hour of touring Tirren led them outside to the helipad where there was a Shinra Chopper waiting.

"This may be related to your work, professor, I have a question," Aeris said.

"Ask away," Tirren replied.

"What exactly do you know about the Cetra?" asked Aeris.

"Regrettably not enough, I know the purpose of this project is to attempt to bring one back," Tirren said, "I was assigned to this sucker, I honestly don't give a damn what they get from it. If the Cetra are dead, personally, I think we should leave them dead."

"I agree," Aeris said nodding.

"Well that's good," Tirren said, "let's go see that power plant."

They all got on the chopper and Tirren took the pilot's seat.

"You can fly this thing?" asked Cloud.

"I'm multi-talented," Tirren replied, "in many, many ways."

Tirren flew the chopper for the most part in a straight line. After only a few minutes of flight the power plant came into view. It was larger than the black building but similarly shaped.

"The plant is a little bigger than the building itself, but is made up mostly of Mako-powered technology. It can keep the building running twenty-four seven and doesn't affect anything else," Tirren explained. "This place is pretty much the key to everything. If this goes down everything goes down, takes a lot of power to run the machine back at the building."

"Is it vulnerable, the plant?" asked Cloud.

"Yes, for such an important contraption I'm interested in the security aspect as I'm not so well versed in that area," Gast added.

Tirren nodded, "It's got at least four members of SOLDIER on guard at all times and a group of about fifty common soldiers. There are automated defenses, certain traps set up to defend the inside as well as the outside. We'd like to think we made it impossible to get into, but as a scientist I realize nothing is ever really impossible."

"Well said," Gast commented.

"We'll set down on the roof and go down from there," Tirren said. He landed the chopper and they exited. The roof had four men with rifles, along with two more guarding the only door off the roof.

They walked up to the door.

"Identification cards," the soldier asked.

Cloud looked at Gast out of the corner of his eye; Cloud readied himself to draw his sword.

Tirren pulled out his, "They're with me, open the door."

"Professor, we need to see their…"

"If they were going to break into this place they would have done it already by killing you, open the door," Tirren said, the soldier hesitated but did so a moment later.

"Let's go," Tirren said. They walked inside.

The professor immediately began giving them a tour of the place. After a few minutes they were experts on the ins and outs of the entire place. Their last stop was the most important.

"Here's what you've all been waiting for," Tirren said, "this is what you would destroy to knock out all power to the project."

Tirren gestured to a long cylindrical green object that went up through the middle of the room.

"All you have to do is crack this tube here and the place goes haywire, if it doesn't get sealed everything loses power and boom," Tirren said, "this is what you're looking for isn't it?"

Aeris looked at him curiously, "What?"

"I realize I might look like an idiot, but you're no inspector," Tirren said, "he might be a SOLDIER and the other one definitely looks like a scientist. I doubt you three are even from Shinra."

They looked at him, waiting to see what his next move was.

"You're doing me a favour here, if I wanted to stop you from sabotaging this I would have already," Tirren said, "I don't know the method to your madness but I want this sucker blown up as much as you do probably. I hate this project and I want nothing to do with it, I'd do this myself if I had a death wish. Have fun."

Tirren walked past them toward the room's exit.

"Sam," Aeris said turning toward him.

"How'd you know my name?" asked Tirren.

"Thank you," she said, ignoring his question.

He looked like he was about to ask again but let it go, "Don't mention it, you've got five minutes before I raise the alarm, make it quick."

§

Back at the main building an airship landed almost completely unnoticed outside and unloaded three men.

"They're already here," Mardra said looking around.

Fear nodded, "It doesn't matter, Foret, what's involved here?"

Foret held up the Black Materia, "All we have to do is wait for them to destroy the power source. Then, when that's done, the connection with Centre Time will be lost. The Ancient Black will be called back and just as he takes his path backward we'll sneak up his path forward bypassing the entire locked door problem."

"How did you come up with this?" asked Mardra.

"There was a man in Kalm, I talked to him before I had him killed, his name was Hojo, I think you all know him yes?" asked Foret.

They nodded.

"Man was a nutbar but he was ahead of his time as far as science, he created this theory," Foret said.

"Did he test it?" asked Mardra.

"No," Foret said, "but honestly, what other option do we have?"


	31. Back in Town

--As a note, I will have a reference to a Yuffie/Vincent relationship, short but noticeable. Now my idea of this story was not to make it a Yuffentine or Yufvincentie or a Cloris…ith or whatever the hell...any of the name crossover thingies so I won't be basing my plot around it at all, but I thought logically it would make sense in the context of the chapter. After playing Dirge of Cerberus I could now see Yuffie and Vincent as a possibility, though the possiblity isn't made obvious in the game in any way. So if you consider any of these events out of character for Yuffie, you've been warned.

**Chapter 30**

**Back in Town**

The black cloud rose higher and billowed outward in the sky until it covered the sun, blackening the entire continent. The smoke rose solely from one spot, the North Crater. Though the sun shone and it was daytime elsewhere, under the cloud it was pitch black, night time.

Wymond sat alone watching the cloud encompass the area around the North Crater.

The Ancient Black was late, but it was still coming, Wymond knew that. If it wasn't then there wouldn't be this dark cloud forming around where it would appear.

Losing Vincent meant their battle with the Black would be that much harder, Aeris had been confident in the fact that Vincent could greatly damage the Ancient Black. Though Vincent was no longer here and couldn't help them. Even worse, Wymond wasn't sure his own powers could harm the Black enough.

Cid's airship was powerful, but powerful enough for the Black? There were just too many unknowns in the equation for Wymond to be confident. These people were strong, every one of them, but not strong enough to seriously damage the Ancient Black. Together they might be able to defeat the creature…maybe.

"The Highwind is as ready as we can make it," Rufus Shinra said walking up behind the seated Wymond. "As is everyone else, this monster of yours is taking its time."

"The Ancient Black doesn't really work on a schedule, but it is coming," Wymond replied.

"Of course," Rufus said, "it would be far too easy for us if it just took a wrong turn and ended up somewhere else."

"Unfortunately that kind of stuff doesn't happen," Wymond muttered, "I'd prefer it did at this point."

Rufus sat beside the guardian.

"You don't think we can win?" asked Rufus.

"It doesn't look promising," Wymond replied.

"You're obviously not familiar with how much we've all survived in the past," Rufus said.

"I apologize," Wymond said, "I don't mean to belittle any accomplishments, but a few Weapons and a psychopathic man with a long sword doesn't quite compare to this kind of thing."

"No," Rufus murmured, "I suppose it doesn't."

Wymond stared off silently at the increasingly dark cloud.

"I told an enemy something once, about a year ago, more or less I told him that every time an evil challenges us we will do as history dictates and stop them every time," Rufus stood up, "if it can't be done this time, then something has gone so utterly wrong in the world that it's probably not worth saving in that case anyways."

"You might be right," Wymond said nodding.

Rufus turned and walked away.

§

"I wonder if Cloud and Aeris are alright," Tifa said.

"I am sure they can handle their task," Red XIII said.

"I wonder if they saw Vincent there, in that time they're in," Cait Sith said, "it's possible he could have existed then right?"

"According to what I understand that is a possibility," Red XIII replied, "though I doubt it would be the same Vincent we know."

"I can't believe he's gone," Tifa said, "after everything that's happened, everything we've all survived."

"As the way of things would have it we are all destined to meet our match eventually," Red XIII said, "we will all meet our end, what I find troubling is that I always thought Vincent was…already dead."

"I don't think any of us were quite sure what Vincent was," Tifa said, "now we'll never know, I guess."

"Maybe it is better we do not know at all," Red XIII said.

Tifa opened her mouth to say something, but a noise interrupted her, it sounded like wind whistling through the air. She looked around curiously.

"Do you hear that?" asked Yuffie running toward them with Cid and Reno in tow.

"Sounds like a wind storm of some kind, but no wind," Tifa said looking around cautiously.

"Look up!" Reno said pointing.

Above them was what appeared to be a red scar in the sky, as if someone had made a cut in the air. Then the cut seemed to collapse in on itself and there was a bright red explosion. Everyone ducked and covered their eyes.

Though they all had their eyes closed they could hear the crash well enough. Something fell to the ground near them. They opened their eyes.

"My tall dark and shady friend, you make a horrible landing pad," Sam muttered in a growl.

Under Samael was Vincent, "Thank you."

"I don't think I can move," Sam said wincing, "you broke my back."

"Well, I think you broke my ribs so it appears we may be even," Vincent replied.

Sam got enough of his senses back to look around, "Uh oh."

"What?" asked Vincent.

"People," Sam said, "uh…people of Centre Time, we come in peace, ET phone home and all that stuff."

Vincent looked around and recognized his comrades.

"Oh, wait, I know her," Sam said rolling off Vincent and pointing at Tifa, "that's the chick with the…"

"Masterful martial arts?" asked Vincent.

"That's what I was going to say, yes," Sam struggled to his feet. "My people, I am _God_, fallen from the heavens to deliver you a message!"

"Sam, shut up," Vincent muttered.

"Come on, I just fell from the sky, let me play this one out," Sam retorted, "people of this planet, my message to you is…_don't do drugs!_"

"Ignore him," Vincent said getting to his feet.

"Now, continue about your duties as if I do not exist, if you're Muslim, stay in denial if you like, but Allah, he ain't comin'!" Sam said laughing.

No one had any idea what he was talking about as usual.

"Vincent?" asked Cid, "that really you buddy?"

"No, no, that's his twin brother Rick," Sam said, "Rick Valentine, Rick, this is Cid, and he flies airships."

"Shut up, Sam," Vincent said, "yes, it's me."

"Samael," Wymond said walking up behind Cid and the others making them jump at the sound of his voice, "I'd ask what you're doing here but I'm sure that question's getting old with you."

"Whoa-oh!" Sam said smiling, "a guardian. Now I'm in trouble, please sah, don't send me back to the Lifestream sah!"

"I assume you caught up with my charge and the other man?" asked Wymond.

"Cloud?" asked Sam. "Yeah, he's one bad dude, dude. Tall dark and shady here and I took a detour and last we heard the lovebirds were on their way to stop the Ancient Dark Navy."

"Black," Wymond corrected.

"Well, to the untrained eye, yes," Sam said, "in fact if you look closely it's not really black it's dark navy."

"You look that close?" asked Wymond.

"Hey, whoever said pink is the new black is crazy," Sam said, "queer eye for the dead guy if you know what I mean, you're the dead guy and people call me queer sometimes. Whether my eyes are queer is a completely different story."

"You haven't grown up in three hundred years have you?" asked Wymond.

"Are you kidding?" asked Sam. "Grown up? Why, you don't have to grow up anymore if you're dead. You can be irresponsible and have fun 24/7. It's like the 60's all over again…well, not the 60's here…if there was a 60's here…I'm not sure how years work here…my point is growing up is for alive people."

Wymond shook his head, "Well, if my charge and her friend…"

"Boyfriend," Sam corrected.

"He is?" asked Wymond.

"He just doesn't know it yet," Sam replied.

"Cloud, if my charge and _Cloud_ don't do what they're trying to do then we could use your help to kill the Black," Wymond said.

"Dark Navy," Sam corrected.

"Okay, whatever, Dark Navy," Wymond said in annoyance.

"Sure, why the hell not," Sam said, "now where can I find Rufus Shinra?"

Wymond gestured behind him, "He's over there."

"Awesome, wanna ask how this guy got out of Shinra HQ without being blown to popcorn," Sam said, "I think we need a group hug with Vincent here, _he's aliiiiiiivvveeee_, everybody's happy!"

Sam knew every one of them probably thought he was out of his mind. He began walking toward Rufus when someone shot by him on his right side.

"Big world there, buddy, you could walk around…" Sam went silent as he saw the person go straight for Vincent. The he was a she. "…oh, the goofball, okay, never mind."

Sam watched Yuffie stop in front of Vincent then a moment later kissed him. Vincent staggered backward trying to keep his balance to stop from falling backward from the surprise.

"Well," Sam said, "no kiss for me; I'm the one who brought him back."

"Excuse me," Tifa said walking up to Sam from the left.

"Hey," Sam said facing her, "if Vincent tells you about any jokes I made about your breasts, I deny it to my grave…which if you wanna get technical is already where I am."

"What?" asked Tifa confused.

"Nothing," Sam said, "what can I do for ya?"

Tifa was silent for a moment then appeared to give up on trying to understand him, "You saw Cloud and Aeris?"

"I followed them around for a while, I know Aeris quite well, Cloud I've only every really heard of," Sam replied.

"So as far as you know they're okay?" asked Tifa.

"As far as I know," Sam said, "shouldn't you be over there helping Yuffie make out with tall dark and shady?"

"I…what…no," Tifa stuttered.

Sam smiled, "It's people like you that make my life more fun, tall dark and shady just tells me to shut up, people like you stand there trying to piece together what I'm saying. What I mean is shouldn't you be in shock he's alive?"

"I am, I just…" Tifa trailed off.

"You're jealous because Yuffie got to him first?" asked Sam.

"What…no," Tifa said.

"Sorry, my psychic powers are switched, you're jealous because Aeris got to Cloud first," Sam said.

"I…" Tifa stuttered.

"Good answer," Sam said, "look, I'd like to say something like: I can't read your mind…but I can't, because I can. My point is, I know you just spent however many hours being sad and now, boom, tall dark and shady is back and you wasted all that time trying to not be sad. You're worried he's still gonna die when the Dark Navy comes and you wanna stay distant so you don't experience the loss anymore, yadda yadda, denial, denial…you people really do like to make things all complicated in your mind, covering the fact you're scared of losing a friend by worrying about the one that got away and loves a dead chick more than you is a bad idea."

"You Cetra can be annoyingly good at understanding people," Tifa said quietly.

"Me especially, Wymond's just a bodyguard, me, I'm the Albert Einstein of Cetra," Sam said.

"Who?" asked Tifa.

"Alb…" Sam paused, "I'm really smart, okay, that's what I'm getting across here. Plus, as much traveling as I've done I pretty much understand everything there is to understand."

"Must be nice," Tifa said.

"A blessing and a curse," Sam replied.

"Thank you," Tifa said.

"Hey, I aim to please," Sam said and headed off toward Rufus.

Sam got his story from Rufus and everyone else got over the shock of their friend still being alive. During this time Sam did what he needed to do with the Omega Materia and ensured that they wouldn't have any other complications.

Vincent himself had been trying to get over the shock of Yuffie kissing him.

"So what's the story with the ninja chick, dude?" asked Sam quietly to Vincent.

"I'm not sure," Vincent said.

"Well, you just mean you're avoiding it," Sam said, "same thing, really."

Vincent was silent.

"First of all, you gotta forget this Lucrecia chick," Sam said, "I realize you've got a death grip but she's not emotionally available…and she's in a fucking crystal…regardless it's the walking talking," Sam lowered his voice a little more, "extremely good looking ninja chick…or the ice princess behind a waterfall. Look at it this way too, you're like what in real years…fifty-something? What's she…nineteen?"

"Sam…" Vincent began to respond.

"It's coming," Wymond said walking past them.

"There goes my talk on relationship dynamics," Sam muttered. "Dark Navy?"

Wymond nodded grimly, "It looks like whatever Cloud and Aeris were going to do failed."


	32. The Ancient Black

**Chapter 31**

**The Ancient Black**

"So that's what the bastard looks like," Cid growled as the Highwind slowly headed toward the darkening North Crater.

Out of the shroud appeared a huge creature, not really bigger than most of the things they had to deal with, but big all the same.

It was a four-legged completely black monster that looked to have a pair of horns on its monstrous head and five deadly claws on each of its feet. The creature's actual size was unknown, but the only scale they had for the creature was the fact that it was big enough to walk flat footed on the ocean floor, it didn't need to swim.

"It's a lot bigger than I imagined it," Wymond muttered.

"That's what my last girlfriend said," Sam replied.

"I doubt it," Wymond retorted.

Cid had already armed the ship with as many weapons as possible. Chuck and Shera had finished installing every last bit of equipment, including the reinforcement of the Dragon Skin that would probably save their lives.

"Are we looking at a time limit here?" asked Chuck walking toward the front of the ship as if mesmerized by the Ancient Black. "'Cause this thing looks like it might take a while."

"We can be fairly certain if we don't stop it from crossing the ocean we're doomed anyways," Rufus said.

Wymond nodded, "If we can't stop it in the water we can't stop it."

"It's moving pretty slowly, we can take it," Yuffie said.

"Cid," Wymond said, "empty everything you've got at it, when you're done I want every weapon you have emptied and gone off this ship."

"You got it," Cid said nodding.

"Everybody with a long range weapon meet me on the outdoor platform," Wymond said.

Sam saluted the guardian, "Sir, requesting permission to go kick Dark Navy's ass, sir!"

"I always get nervous when you act like that, what are you thinking?" asked Wymond.

"You'll see," Sam said, "I'm gonna go for a bit of a swim, you guys do your fighting thing, I'll be back."

"Sam," Vincent said walking out toward the outdoor platform with him.

"What can I do for ya tall dark and shady?" asked Sam.

"What you said, about Yuffie," Vincent said.

"Never listen to what I say," Sam said, "as a rule, most of the things I say are utter bullshit. Whatever it is you figured it out for yourself and has nothing to do with what crap came out of my mouth."

Vincent said nothing as they stepped out on the platform. The wind was calm and the water was shining like jewels, deceiving characteristics for a day that could spell the end of all days.

"You should definitely embrace the whole hot ninja girlfriend thing," Sam said walking toward the railing of the platform, "seriously, I guarantee it's the way to go."

"What're you doing?" asked Vincent.

"I told you, going for a swim," Sam said, "first I give advice, and then I swim."

Vincent said nothing; Sam flipped backward over the railing and fell toward the water.

"The hell's he doing?" asked Chuck rushing over to the railing.

"Going for a swim," Vincent echoed his words.

"Alright," Wymond said coming outside, "we need to…where's Sam?"

"He went for a swim," Chuck said.

"Oh," Wymond muttered, "okay then, well, we need to throw everything we possibly can at this thing."

"I've got something we can use," Chuck said, "I had machine guns installed on the platform here, look."

None of them had noticed before, but there were in fact about three heavy machine guns set up in different places on the platform.

"That works," Wymond said, "as soon as we're close enough to the Black Vincent and I will jump off on to the thing's back. From there we'll do as much damage as we can at close range, hopefully it'll be enough."

"While you're doing that the third gun I have set up here should be in perfect range to hit the thing," Chuck said.

"Just don't hit us," Wymond said.

The ship seemed to rumble as it began firing off weapons, missiles and machine guns exploded to life and headed toward the Ancient Black.

"Here we go," Wymond muttered.

The Ancient Black seemed to notice the incoming attacks and reared his head, a beam of some kind of energy exploded out of its mouth and wiped out every piece of weaponry on its way to hitting it.

"Damn," Cid growled, "this bastard isn't as dumb as he looks."

Outside on the platform the three of them saw the Black's defensive move.

"He blocked them," Chuck said, "that's not good."

Vincent ran forward and grabbed one of the heavy machine guns bolted to the railing. He turned it so it was aimed at the Black and then fired. The heavy weapon shook violently as a constant stream of bullets erupted from the gun.

Each of these bullets were incinerated by another black beam, this time the beam didn't stop.

"It's coming this way," Chuck said worriedly.

"Down!" yelled Wymond diving to the ground along with the others.

The beam narrowly passed overhead. They stood up.

"How can we attack it if it just keeps blocking us?" asked Chuck.

"We have to stop it from firing," Vincent said.

"Damn," Wymond muttered, "I don't think we can."

The Black fired another shot from its mouth, straight toward the platform; this shot would blow the thing clear off the ship. There was no time to get off the platform.

The beam closed in, too fast for anyone to do anything to stop it.

Almost anyone, anyways…

Suddenly a jet of flame shot out of the water and seemed to intercept the beam, the red beam of flame connected and both beams flashed out of existence.

"What the hell was that?" asked Wymond.

"Well, if I had to guess, I'd say…fire," Chuck replied.

Wymond got his answer, water exploded upward and a huge, bright, crimson feathered bird shot upward. The shining creature came to a halt floating in front of the Highwind. On its back, was Samael.

"Phoenix," Vincent muttered, "Sam has the staff."

"What staff?" asked Wymond.

They could hear Sam's voice carrying through the air, "_Yeeeehawwwww_!"

"Whatever the staff is it's not safe in his hands," Wymond said.

"Of that I'm sure," Vincent agreed.

"_Guess what, bitch_," Sam yelled at the Ancient Black, "_Knights of the Round, say hello to my little knight friends!"_

Sam held up the staff and it started to glow multiple colours. Then it appeared as if the Ancient Black was attacked from multiple directions at once…thirteen directions to be exact. Each knight did their own unique attack and the Ancient Black was knocked to the side and backward and in all different directions. By the time the summon was done the Black was staggering a bit in the water.

"_Now, time for a science lesson, water is an excellent conductor of what_?" asked Sam.

"_Lightning_!" yelled Chuck.

"_We got a wise guy in the house, yes, lightning, Ramuh, my man, do your thing!"_

A pillar of earth seemed to grow upward out of the water and on top was what appeared to be an old man with a staff of his own. He held it up and electricity exploded outward hitting the Ancient Black. Water conducted the electricity so the damage was doubled at least.

The Ancient Black recovered and fired a blast of black energy back at Sam; Phoenix fired another jet of flame and casually cancelled out the attack.

"_Now, for the grand finale, ladies and gentlemen, the six-winged son of a bitch you've all been waiting for: Bahamut ZERO, let's have a round of applause people,"_ Sam yelled holding up the staff for the last time.

This summon didn't appear near Sam, this summon didn't even appear on the planet at all. Bahamut ZERO hovered out in space, slowly charging an attack in its mouth. Then the flare of energy exploded down through the atmosphere and directly into the Ancient Black. The impact exploded violently sending shockwaves through the water resulting in huge plumes of water that got high enough to hit Vincent, Wymond and Chuck on the platform of the Highwind.

The Ancient Black was still standing; it looked unsteady, but standing.

Sam knelt down, partly from exhaustion, and patted Phoenix on the head.

"One more go, encore for the audience, right?" Sam asked breathing heavily. "Make sure he keeps his big mouth closed."

Phoenix let out a screech and suddenly shot forward, heading straight for the Ancient Black. Then it swooped into a graceful back flip and stopped as if standing straight up with its wings held straight outward.

"Fire away," Sam murmured.

Phoenix let loose what appeared to be hundreds of beams of bright light that all hit the creature square in the face. Suddenly, wherever the beams shone there was a small explosion, millions of small explosions that, combined, completely encompassed the monster's face entirely.

"Shoot at me," Sam said.

The Black appeared to want to, but was unable to; its mouth was cauterized completely shut.

"That's what I thought," Sam said breathing heavily; using Phoenix was still draining his energy, combined with all the others he'd summoned. "Okay bird-boy, you've done your job, now I take my swim."

Phoenix was summoned back into the staff and Sam fell through the air and into the water like a rock.

"Sam!" Wymond yelled leaning on the railing.

"The staff drains energy for use of summons, he's just tired," Vincent said, "he'll be fine."

"He's survived worse," Wymond said nodding, "okay, let's go kill this thing."

Immediately, Cid began firing the ship's weapons again, this time the Ancient Black had no defense against the relentless missiles and bullets. The creature hadn't expected to encounter the Outcast weapon; it looked like it was physically paying the price.

Vincent and Chuck fired away on the heavy machine guns constantly as the ship approached. The stream of bullets appeared to be affecting the creature, but didn't seem to be any closer to killing it.

After a few minutes of this the platform was within range of the Ancient Black.

"Alright, Vincent, we need to get on its back and do as much damage as we can," Wymond said drawing his long blade.

Vincent nodded and likewise drew his own weapon.

"Now," Wymond said.

The two jumped over the railing and landed on the Ancient Black's back, Chuck immediately grabbed the gun closest to aiming at the Black and started firing away.

Vincent and Wymond landed safely enough on the creature's back and immediately went to work. Vincent fired his revolver at point blank range into different spots on the Black while Wymond drove his sword deep into the thing's skin. Wymond's weapon was doing considerably more damage. They both chipped away slowly at the creature's resistance, but it wasn't enough.

The Black attempted to throw his enemies off his back by rocking side to side and making them lose their footing. It almost worked multiple times but both managed to somehow hang on. Vincent drove his clawed hand into the creature's back and hung on as it rocked violently to the left.

Wymond walked forward and drove his sword into the Black's head, it cried out and violently cocked its head backward catching Wymond off guard and sending him flying backward and off the creature's back.

He was falling toward the water; his sword was still imbedded in the creature's head. It was unlikely that he would be able to get back on the creature again very soon; it was up to Vincent now.

However Vincent was no longer on the Black's back, Vincent was gone. Chaos shot downward and caught Wymond before he hit the water.

"Vincent?" asked Wymond.

"More or less," Chaos replied and flew the both of them back on the Ancient Black, Wymond grabbed his Masamune blade.

"This is what Aeris was talking about," Wymond said, Chaos nodded. "We'll see if she was right about how powerful you are, then."

Chaos took flight again and Wymond continued to hack away with his blade. He watched as the winged monstrosity that was Chaos floated in front of the Black's face and started clawing away at it. The creature managed to raise a clawed foot and whack Chaos aside, he splashed into the water.

Immediately Chaos was rocketing back out and straight at the Ancient Black, a crimson streak passed by the Black's face and the creature seemed to stagger to the right as it did. Then the streak came back and hit from the other side, Chaos repeated this going left and right, then going up and down. He slowly started deteriorating the monster's face.

Wymond simultaneously attacked the creature with his sword constantly; this was mixed with the bombardments by Cid and the Highwind.

Chaos floated out in the air a few feet in front of the Black and aimed Death Penalty. Using physical melee attacks wasn't working fast enough for Chaos. He began firing his gun. The powerful rounds in the big gun cut into the Ancient Black causing it to stagger side to side and almost move some complete steps backward.

Chaos started moving forward as his gun slowly started pushing the Black backward. Wymond attacked still but watched in amazement as Chaos' gun dealt heavy damage on the black creature.

"She was right," Wymond muttered.

The Ancient Black attempted to take steps forward but Chaos reloaded and began firing again, the huge gun's bullets wouldn't allow the creature to gain any ground.

Then it looked like the creature was frozen in time itself, the world moved around it but it itself was just frozen. Chaos stopped firing and looked at the monster wondering if maybe it was dead.

Then, like glass, the monster began to shatter slowly into pieces, it started at the legs and then the body and finishing at the head. It slowly began to break into small jagged pieces and fall uselessly into the water.

The ground disappeared from under Wymond and he was falling with the remnants of the Ancient Black. Chaos shot through the waterfall of pieces and grabbed Wymond, flying him back toward the Highwind.

Chaos landed on the platform and he and Wymond looked back at where the Black was in the late stages of deteriorating.

"Did we kill it?" asked Chuck looking at Chaos warily for a moment.

"I don't think so, that was too easy," Wymond said. "Look, the pieces of the Ancient Black are being sucked backward into the Crater."

"It's lost its connection to this existence," Chaos said, "Cloud and Aeris have succeeded."

"We won?" asked Chuck.

"It appears that way," Wymond said.

"We won!" Chuck yelled and ran inside the airship yelling the two words over and over.

"Will they be able to come back to this existence?" asked Chaos.

"As far as I know as soon as the path is destroyed they should be sucked forward as the creature is called back," Wymond said, "if not Cloud is the key to Centre Time so they could get in that way."

"You knew?" asked Chaos.

Wymond nodded, "I'm the reason he and Aeris knew, I was able to send them both a vision, much like the one you and Cloud received from Aeris, telling them who they should find and that Cloud was the key."

"Hojo," Chaos said.

"I guess you were there," Wymond said, "I found out quite recently and knew I had to get the message to him. I used the City of the Ancients again to convey the message; it was difficult, but not impossible. I thought it was odd I didn't find any remains of you, Vincent. I had suspected death was too easy an exit for you."

"You may be right," Chaos said, "I have to go pick up a friend, I'll be back for the celebration."

"Yes, you do look like the partying type," Wymond said sarcastically and headed inside.

Chaos flew toward the water and spotted Sam floating on his back, staff in his right hand. Chaos stopped at a hover beside him.

"Did we win?" asked Sam.

"The Ancient Black is gone," Chaos said.

Sam looked at him, "You did your freaky winged demon thingy again, and I'm guessing you killed it."

Chaos shook his head, "I believe Cloud and Aeris succeeded in what they were planning."

"Oh, well, one way or another the thing's gone," Sam muttered, "well, hurry up and fly me outta here before this water ruins my hair. I combed it all nice for coming here and now it's ruined."


	33. Blocked Path

**Chapter 32**

**Blocked Path**

The Highwind sat down and Chaos followed after, he walked over to the gathered group and put Sam down gently on the ground and then once again turned back into Vincent.

"Thanks for the ride," Sam muttered weakly.

"Is he alright?" asked Tifa looking at Sam worriedly.

"Touching, really," Sam said propping himself on his elbow, "but I'll live…sort of."

"Hey, where's Cloud and Aeris?" asked Barret.

Sam looked to Barret, "They should be around shortly."

"So what's your story, buddy?" asked Cid sitting down looking at Sam.

"Well, it all began…when a man…fell in love…with a woman," Sam said dramatically.

Vincent shook his head, "He's a Cetra."

"For a race of people that are extinct there sure are a lot of you around lately," Yuffie said smiling.

"Some of us have this…come back from the dead thing we like to do," Sam said, "most of us are getting bored of being dead, anyways."

"So what exactly happened to Vincent?" asked Tifa.

"Well," Sam said falling back on his back and wincing, "as far as I can tell he was in an unstable area and got shot into an alternate dimension. Coincidence he'd end up in the same one as myself, Aeris and Cloud were in."

"Maybe fate, if you believe in that kind of thing," Wymond said.

Sam and Vincent attempted to try and recount all the strange things they'd managed to encounter in the alternate existences they'd adventured to. The story in full would have probably taken days to tell, but the condensed version only took about an hour.

"It was in the Mirror World…" Vincent was saying.

"…the one where I did not make any jokes about Tifa at all," Sam cut in.

Tifa smiled.

"…that Sam found a way back into this time, which was around the same time we fell from the sky I suppose," Vincent finished.

"Weird," Yuffie commented.

"You get used to it," Sam replied.

"Must have been confusing as hell," Cid said.

"It can mess with your head, yes," Sam muttered, "as long as you manage to have an open mind to the fact there are many possibilities for a different world, you should be fine."

"Just…Aeris…having a brother," Yuffie said, "that's crazy."

"In the terms of this world, yes, but in a different existence, no," Sam said.

"For such a crazy fella you sound all sophisticated when you're talking about this time travel stuff," Cid commented.

Sam smiled, "Well, thank you, Cid. This time travel stuff is my life after all, no one knows more about it than me."

"Well, looks like you could use some sleep, Sam," Wymond said.

"Yeah, I'd say that's a good idea," Sam agreed.

"Got a bed on the Highwind," Cid said pointing at his ship.

"Unless someone wants to carry me I think I'm fine right here," Sam replied closing his eyes, "thanks."

"Let's give the guy a moment," Barret said walking off toward the Highwind.

Everyone wandered off in their own directions. Tifa however stayed behind a little.

Sam didn't open his eyes, "Problem?"

"Did…Cloud and Aeris…?"

"I tried to get them to kiss or something but no luck, why?"

"I was just…wondering, I guess."

"Eventually, you realize, you're going to have to let him go because he isn't letting go of her," Sam opened his eyes and looked at Tifa, "dead or alive."

Tifa nodded, "I know."

"Tall dark and shady is getting over the crystal girl and getting it on with the ninja, Cloud's got a second chance with a dead chick, you know the only person here who's caught in the past is you. If Vinny can move on you sure as hell should be able to, sweetheart."

"Yeah…" she said walking away.

"And when you do get over Cloud," Sam said closing his eyes once more, "you know where to find me."

Tifa looked back but just shook her head and walked away.

"Weird guy," she muttered.

"Thank you," Sam whispered grinning.

As far as everyone else knew the danger was over and all they had to worry about was Cloud and Aeris' return, which had yet to happen. They waited for somewhere in the vicinity of five hours and still no sign of their friends. During that period of time Sam got his needed rest and awoke. He took the staff that was a very powerful weapon and downgraded its status to a walking stick. Sam was still a little drained but he could actually support his own weight on his legs now.

He leaned on the staff and looked around.

"Nice place, never really noticed when I was alive, but nice place," Sam muttered.

He noticed Yuffie and Vincent sitting side by side looking off into the sun that would soon be setting. Sam headed off toward them.

Vincent looked sidelong at Yuffie; the two had addressed the awkward issue of her kiss earlier that day…well…awkward issue for Vincent and Vincent alone. Apparently Yuffie herself had wanted to do it for a while and wasn't at all embarrassed about it, but then that didn't surprise him, there were few things Yuffie could claim to be introverted about. In that sense they were polar opposites, he was dark and introverted where Yuffie was completely the opposite, full of life and completely open with just about everything. A girl afraid to say nothing, and a man who didn't usually say very much at all, in some minds that may have made her his weakness, his opposite, but in his case she might have just been what he needed to move on from Lucrecia and his sins.

"Well, isn't this romantic," Sam said coming up behind the two.

"Hey Sam," Yuffie said smiling.

"Not interrupting anything am I?" asked Sam.

"No, we weren't really talking," Yuffie replied.

"Well, with tall dark and shady here that's not completely surprising," Sam said sitting on Vincent's other side. "I just wanted to come over to mention I might go looking for our lost friends if they don't turn up soon."

Vincent nodded, "I'll go with you."

"No can do," Sam said, "you've got responsibilities here now, unless the girlfriend lets you go you're stuck. She's the boss you know. Don't do what she says and you end up like me, single, and my ex happens to be trying to kill me and destroy existence as we know it."

"Haven't you had enough of saving the world, Vincent?" asked Yuffie.

"Look, the puppy-dog eyes," Sam said grinning, "_oh please Vincent, don't go_. We dead guys gotta stick together, but you got people to see, things to do. Me…I'm a free agent, go anywhere do anything, I can handle it."

"You shouldn't go alone," Vincent said.

"He is right," Yuffie agreed, "in your condition it's not safe."

Sam shrugged, "I don't expect to run into too much resistance, I'll get them out quick as soon as I see them anyways."

"I'll go," Tifa said walking up beside Sam.

Sam looked up at her.

"Just in case you do run into trouble," Tifa added.

"Well, in that case, by all means," Sam said, "do join me."

"When do we leave?" asked Tifa.

"Get ready, hopefully this shouldn't take too long, meet me back here when you're ready," Sam replied.

She nodded and ran back to the Highwind.

"How come you don't mind taking her along?" asked Yuffie smiling.

"I'm hoping to catch her in this vulnerable _oh no Cloud's in love with Aeris_ moment alone so I can take advantage of her," Sam said with a straight face.

Vincent and Yuffie looked at him.

Sam laughed, "No, I can't back that one up."

"Ready," Tifa said returning from the Highwind.

"Alright," Sam said, closing his eyes, "all I need to do is follow the Ancient Dark Navy's trail and we'll end up where Cloud and Aeris are…I hope."

"You hope?" asked Tifa.

"Here we go!" Sam said snapping his fingers, the two were gone.

"You don't think he was serious, about that taking advantage of her stuff?" asked Yuffie. "I mean I know he said he was joking afterward, but, when he said it he looked so serious."

"If there's one thing I learned meeting Sam, he's a very good actor," Vincent replied. "Tifa could probably take him out anyways."

Yuffie laughed.

§

Sam and Tifa appeared in a field of grass; in front of them a few feet was the black building. Shinra soldiers and other employees ran around frantically. One scientist appeared to be walking toward them calmly.

Tifa saw the scientist and looked at Sam, and then back at the scientist…they looked exactly the same except for the fact the scientist had glasses.

"Sam…he," Tifa stuttered.

"May I say sir, you are one very handsome fellow," Sam said to the scientist.

"Not too bad yourself," Tirren replied walking by casually.

"He's _you_!" Tifa exclaimed.

"Remember what I said about an open mind?" asked Sam.

Tifa shook her head and then took a deep breath, "Right, sorry."

"Let's go find spikey and Aeris," Sam said.

The two walked past the black building, and the place where Sam figured they'd be appeared in the distance.

"Let's hope they started walking a little," Sam said, "if not we're gonna have to walk all the way over there."

"So let's start walking," Tifa said.

They put words to action and headed toward the power plant. After only a few minutes of walking it appeared in fact that Cloud and Aeris had started walking. They came into view quite quickly, Gast trailing behind a little.

"Ahoy, mateys!" Sam yelled.

"Sam," Aeris said starting at a jog; Cloud sped up his pace to keep up with Aeris and Gast did likewise. "What the hell happened?"

"As much as I like you to think I'm the man with all the answers, beautiful, you do have to tell me what happened so I can explain it," Sam replied.

"We were supposed to follow the Ancient Black's path right back to Centre Time, but when I tried to it was like I was blocked out," Aeris said. "Oh, hi Tifa."

Tifa nodded, "Are you okay?"

"Alive," Aeris said nodding.

"The path should have been clear," Sam said curiously. "The only way you'd be blocked out is if someone else took the path to Centre Time, and only Cetra with our knowledge should be able to…"

They looked at Sam curiously as he trailed off.

"They figured it out," Sam muttered.

"Who figured out what?" asked Tifa.

"The Outcasts, they figured out how to use the path of the Ancient Dark Navy," Sam said wide-eyed, "the Outcasts are in Centre Time."

"I thought that wasn't possible," Gast said, "I thought you had to have the key to get there."

"There's always a loophole," Sam replied, "I'm just usually the only one to find them and use them."

"They'll be looking for the missing artifacts," Aeris said, "and we have them."

"We had to stop them at some point, might as well be on your home turf, right?" asked Sam.

"That means I should go back to my time, right?" asked Gast.

"It would make sense," Sam said, "the Outcasts aren't going to leave Centre Time they'll complete their mission or die trying."

Aeris turned to her brother, "I guess this is finally good bye."

"Will I remember you?" asked Gast.

"The memory shouldn't create any serious paradoxes, so yes, you will," Sam replied.

"Thank you, Sam, all of you, for everything," Gast said, "you saved my life and threw me on one hell of an adventure."

Cloud nodded.

"I apologize our meeting must be cut so short as well, you must be Tifa," Gast said.

"You're Aeris' brother?" asked Tifa.

"It appears so, yes," Gast said, "you're a legend in my existence, you and your friends all are, it was an honour to meet a few of you in the flesh."

Tifa wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"Well, Sam, you're doing the honours?" asked Gast.

"Aeris, you have the key, you should be able to get into Centre Time the normal way, I'll meet you back there once I take care of your brother," Sam said.

She nodded.

"Tifa, you go back with them, the trip was short," Sam said.

"Maybe next time you can make it a longer one," Tifa replied.

"Next time?" Sam muttered, "hm…alright, professor, let's get outta here."

Gast looked to his sister one last time, "It was good to see you again, whether you really are the sister I once had or not exactly, I enjoyed seeing you as you at least could have been."

Aeris quickly hugged her brother, "Maybe I'll see you again, somehow."

"At this point I'd believe anything, Aeris," Gast said smiling, "I love you."

"I love you too," Aeris whispered.

"Ready?" asked Sam, who for a rare moment couldn't bring himself to make any jokes.

Gast nodded.

Sam looked at the others, "The door to Centre Time is in the City of the Ancients, on the altar, you know the one Aeris. As soon as you get back be prepared to fight Outcasts, I'll get back as soon as I can."

"Be careful, Sam, we may need your help back there," Cloud said.

"The Outcast last stand," Sam muttered, "Cloud, I wouldn't miss it for the world."


	34. Outcast Last Stand

**Chapter 33**

**Outcast Last Stand**

Cloud, Aeris and Tifa found their way to the portal that led into Centre Time easily enough thanks to Aeris.

"It'll only open if you want it to, Cloud," Aeris said, "just walk through, we'll follow."

Cloud nodded and walked up to the strange swirling object floating in the air. Cloud stepped into it and felt as if he had been lifted off the ground. It felt similar to the sensation of levitation.

Then, suddenly, he was back on solid ground. Coincidentally, or not so coincidentally, he appeared only a few feet from where his friends were gathered. Aeris and Tifa came into existence just behind him.

"We're back," Tifa said.

"No Outcasts," Cloud said looking around.

"Guess there's no chance they took a wrong turn somewhere?" asked Tifa knowing the answer.

The three walked toward the group and everyone gathered around when they noticed who had come back.

"Where's that Sam guy?" asked Yuffie.

"He'll be around in a while, he had to do something first," Aeris replied.

"I gather he found you," Red XIII said, "was there a problem?"

"Yes," Aeris said, "one that could become all our problems very soon."

Aeris explained as quickly as possible about the Outcasts and how they may have found a way to travel into this existence without the key.

"Sam did that, didn't he?" asked Tifa.

"Sam can manipulate existences in a way no other Cetra can, he's the only person who should be able to do it," Aeris explained.

"So where are these guys then?" asked Cid.

"I'm not sure, they must be here, somewhere," Aeris said.

"I'll get the Highwind in the air, see if I can see anything," Cid said.

"I don't think that'll be necessary, Cid," Vincent said, "you can see them from here."

Everyone looked to where Vincent was pointing. Off in the distance a single, large, airship was visible.

"That's the Outcast flagship," Cloud said, "looks like that's all they could manage to get through in time."

"Lucky for us," Red XIII said.

Wymond looked at Cid, "The Highwind doesn't stand a chance against that airship, though I think Chaos might be useful here."

Vincent nodded.

"The rest of you might want to start thinking of a plan," Wymond said.

"I don't care who you kill out of them," Sam said appearing randomly behind them all, they turned to look in surprise, "just leave the leader for me."

Tifa looked at Aeris curiously.

"Stole his girlfriend," Aeris whispered.

"Oh," Tifa said.

"I'll be back," Vincent said and started running in the direction of the airship.

"When that thing goes down there's gonna be one hell of a swarm of bad guys," Wymond said, "Cid, I think your airship may be more useful when that happens."

"You got it," Cid said heading for the Highwind.

"Wymond," Sam said walking up to him, "if you run into Charna before I do tell her I said good bye."

Wymond nodded.

§

Vincent became Chaos in mid-run and shot up into the air, Death Penalty drawn and aimed. No fooling around this time, he had to get the airship out of the air as soon as possible. Chaos opened fire and his rounds hit a shield around the ship. This didn't slow Chaos down any however, as he was sure eventually his bullets would outlast the shield.

Bullets ripped into the ship's defenses and the airship began fighting back. Guns opened fire and bullets swarmed out at Chaos. Some hit their mark but the winged creature just seemed to shrug it off. Then a missile exploded out from the ship, followed by another and after the volley was done there were about ten heading Chaos' way.

Chaos lowered his big pistol and rocketed forward, wings back like a bird of prey diving for its target. Chaos became his signature crimson streak and when he came to a stop behind the missiles they exploded uselessly behind him. He began firing again, this time shooting around the airship and firing at all different sides making it impossible for the ship's weapons to even begin to fire at him.

After only a few minutes the shields gave out, from there on there was no resistance against Chaos. The ship picked up speed to try and outrun him but it was no use, Chaos didn't even have to flap his wings harder to keep pace. Death Penalty blew large holes into the hull of the ship taking out most or all of the ship's necessary systems along the way.

Soon, the _Cetra Resurrection _simply didn't have anything left working in it to fly and began to nose dive. The vessel crashed violently into the ground creating quite the crater in the ground, and due to the force of the crash the front of the ship was crushed and driven backward a little so it was almost like the middle of the ship was now the front. Its momentum finally died and came to a halt, it lay useless on the ground, smoke and fire coming out of the countless holes and tears in its armour.

Chaos floated above the airship for a while and then returned to the group which was now not so far away, the damaged ship had still made some progress.

He landed in front of the others and nodded, "Now we just wait for them to attack."

"They're probably pissed," Sam said, "we won't have to wait too long."

Sam was correct, almost immediately Outcasts exited the airship and attempted to organize themselves.

"If you all worked on any kind of plan, now's the time," Chaos said.

As if in response, the Highwind rocketed overhead.

"There's phase one," Sam said grinning.

It would have been far too easy if Cid's ship could have wiped out all of the Outcasts right there; it appeared Fear had brought his best Outcasts with him on this trip.

Though Cid's missiles and bullets did spell the end of the battle for a great number of the force, the remaining Outcasts managed to redirect the attacks and some even reflected them back at the Highwind. Cid's airship took damage and after waiting until the very last moment he decided to pull out and come back to the group.

When he was done the Outcast numbers were a little more even to their group's numbers.

"We're still outnumbered," Red XIII said.

"Yeah," Cloud said, "when haven't we been?"

"Okay people, here's a thirty second lesson on Outcasts," Sam said, "they're tough so don't underestimate them obviously, the guy with the knives and two swords is their leader, I'm killing him. The chick usually beside him with one sword is Charna, the one that fights with his fists like Tifa here is Foret, and the guy with the gun is Mardra. These are the most important people, the rest are just Outcast lackeys you could probably kill anyways."

"I've got Foret then I guess," Tifa said.

"I'll find Mardra," Chaos added.

"Charna is the strongest next to Feardorcha, the leader, so I don't recommend anyone really go up against her alone," Sam said, "except maybe Wymond here."

Wymond nodded and gestured toward the Outcasts, "If I get a chance I'll see what I can do."

"The Outcasts are moving," Cloud said drawing his sword.

They were indeed, running at full speed toward them.

"I'm sure you've all fought worse so this should be a walk in the park," Sam said.

"We'll let you know when it's over, I'm sure," Red XIII replied.

"Barret, some bullets would be nice here I think," Wymond said.

"You got it," Barret growled and stepped out front, aiming his gun arm.

"Here we go," Sam muttered looking at the staff in his hand; he'd use it if he had to.

Barret's gun fired a wave of bullets that exploded into the group of charging enemies. Some Outcasts fell but most managed to deflect the wave of bullets coming at them.

Fear, Charna, Foret and Mardra, who were at the very back of the charging group made efforts to fire back. Mardra leveled his rifle in mid run and aimed for Barret.

"Heads up," Sam said holding up his right hand, he had anticipated Mardra's shot.

A single rifle bullet floated in front of Barret, stopped dead only a few inches from hitting him in the head.

Sam flicked his wrist and the bullet fell to the ground.

"You think that's tricky I can do a whole bunch of Matrix-style stuff," Sam said.

No one knew what he was talking about, and at this point none of them were really listening anyways.

The Outcasts were closing in fast.

"Alright, time we did our own charge here," Wymond said, "right down the centre, split the force in half, those of you gunning for a high ranking Outcast they'll be in the back."

Chaos shot up into the air and rocketed toward the force of Outcasts.

"Go!" Wymond yelled.

Every one of them standing there charged forward, standing still wasn't going to win them the battle anyways.

Wymond and Sam ended up out front of the charge with Cloud and the others just behind. Barret was still firing in mid run and Aeris had begun throwing her own offensive magic attacks at the Outcasts.

Above, Chaos rained bullets down on the Outcasts from Death Penalty. He spotted Mardra easily; the Outcast was aiming a rifle up at Chaos. He did a flip in the air and the rifle bullet shot past him harmlessly. Chaos then dived downward, straight toward his target.

The rest of the force created a wedge and, as suggested, chopped the enemy group right in half. Everyone continued running, chopping through and shooting as many Outcasts as possible as they went.

The Outcasts were strong enemies, but Cloud and his allies had been through much worse. Over all the Outcasts never stood a chance.

Tifa spotted the only Outcast without a drawn weapon, knowing this must have been Foret she charged toward him.

Foret noticed the single female heading toward him and turned to face her, he recognized her slightly from other existences.

Tifa jumped into a kick that Foret knocked aside and jumped backward, Tifa moved forward with a whirlwind of punches and kicks that Foret had to move drastically to the left to dodge. He came back with his own punch that sent Tifa flying head over heels and on to the ground.

"You were a lot better in different worlds I must say," Foret commented walking toward her, "strange the weakest one would be found in the most important existence."

Tifa kicked from the ground and Foret jumped back, the attack fell short, it gave Tifa time to get back on her feet though. She ran forward and attacked again, Foret blocked and countered with a knee to the stomach. Tifa staggered back, the Outcast attempted to take her down while she was staggered but Tifa recovered faster than he had expected and she spun on the ground taking his feet right out from under him.

Aeris smashed one Outcast across the face with her staff and jabbed the bottom backward to hit another Outcast behind her in the stomach, he doubled over. Then she turned and smashed him over the head, two Outcasts down. Aeris jabbed the staff into the ground and a wave of blue energy shot outward knocking the Outcasts near her off their feet.

Cloud broke his single sword into two and began fending off Outcasts from all angles. Suddenly, the Outcasts around him floated off their feet and dangled helplessly in the air.

Sam walked up and stood beside Cloud casually, "So, how's it going?"

Cloud realized soon enough it was Sam's doing, "Oh you know, did a little time travel, visited other existences, worked on saving the world."

"So then an altogether uneventful week, eh?" asked Sam. "That's okay, it'll get more interesting."

Sam flicked his wrist and the floating Outcasts shot backward and knocked into other Outcasts.

Cid spun his spear around knocking multiple Outcasts off their feet at one time, then he turned and jabbed the dull end back staggering an enemy behind, then jabbed the deadly end forward killing the enemy in front. Cid elbowed an incoming Outcast and dropped him to the ground, then used the same arm to grab a lighter and light up a new cigarette.

Red XIII charged through the Outcasts knocking them aside like a bowling ball through pins, Cait Sith hung on to his back for dear life, his feet were flying up in the air.

"What in blazes are you doing, you're gonna get us killed!" Cait Sith yelled.

Red XIII ignored his passenger and barreled into another Outcast, he stopped suddenly as Yuffie stepped into his path.

"Sorry," she said sidestepping Red XIII and kicking an Outcast in the face simultaneously. "Go ahead."

Red XIII nodded, "Thank you."

He continued on his way.

Tifa and Foret were caught in a constant battle of attack and counter attack, these actions had become so fast that mostly it was all just a blur to the eye. Tifa ducked a punch and came up with an uppercut then sent Foret flying and landing painfully a few feet away. He popped back to his feet and charged at her, in mid run he jumped into a kick that connected solidly with Tifa's stomach knocking her off her feet.

Chaos and Mardra traded shots, both were missing almost constantly. Mardra's rifle shots up at Chaos were sometimes close but mostly he had to worry about Chaos' deadly accurate shots from Death Penalty. Chaos tried a different tactic and landed, he started walking toward Mardra. Mardra's rifle shots fired straight but Death Penalty's projectiles simply incinerated Mardra's shots and continued on toward the Outcast.

Aeris parried a sword and then used her staff to smash the attacking Outcast in the legs sending him to the ground. She turned a little to her left to regard an attacking Outcast when Cloud ran past using one of his two swords to slash along his back, the Outcast fell dead.

"Thank you," Aeris muttered and spun a full one-eighty to knock an Outcast out cold with her staff.

The battle between the Outcast lackeys and the others seemed to go on forever, at some points the sheer number of Outcast would allow them to land a shot on their enemies but it was a true tribute to the power of Cloud and his allies, the fact that none of them were any closer to being killed by the superior-numbered enemy.

"Alright," Sam muttered, "time to clear away some of this mess."

He held up the staff and summoned only one creature, that wouldn't drain too much energy to do.

Shiva appeared and quickly fired a blanket of ice over a great number of the Outcasts. Those that were frozen shattered instantly when hit and those that weren't hit began to shatter over time anyways.

Cloud spun like a top with his double swords through the large group of frozen Outcasts. Each one his sword touched shattered into a million jagged shards, when Cloud was done there were hardly any frozen Outcasts left.

Tifa ducked another roundhouse kick and gave her own, this one connected, Foret was staggered backward. She didn't stop, she used her enemy's disoriented state to get in a quick flurry of punches and kicks that finally put Foret on the ground, and among other injuries his nose was broken.

Foret got to his feet slowly and looked at Tifa, it took a moment for his vision to clear. He raised his fists again and made for one last charge, he knew he only had one more in him. He ran forward and in the middle of his charge fired a beam of green energy from his hands that he thought caught Tifa completely by surprise.

Tifa however, had just managed to jump over the attack and fly through the air, landing gracefully right behind Foret.

"Foret," Sam said walking up in front of him, "you look kind of beat up, I guess that's better than how you're about to look: _dead_."

Tifa jabbed her elbow into the back of Foret's neck and it was audible that something snapped and crackled, the Outcast fell limply to the ground.

Sam walked over to the dead Outcast and knelt beside him, "You chose the wrong side this time, my friend."

Tifa looked at Sam and Foret, "You knew him?"

"I used to be an Outcast," Sam replied, "I know all of these people."

Tifa was lost for words, the only thing she could think to say was, "Sorry."

"That's okay, if you hadn't killed him I would have," Sam said, "it looked way cooler you doing it though. That whole, back of the neck snap thing was awesome."

"Thanks," Tifa replied, again short for words.

Sam noticed something over Tifa's shoulder, Feardorcha.

"Well, business calls," Sam said, "don't go getting yourself killed."

Sam walked past her and toward Fear.

Cloud kicked forward and knocked an Outcast backward; he crossed both swords over each other like scissors and chopped off the Outcast's head. Wymond came around from behind Cloud and did likewise with his own sword to two other Outcasts.

"Can't be very many left at this point," Wymond said dropping down under a sword and jabbing his own up into the Outcast's stomach.

Cloud looked around, the enemy ranks were clear enough that he could pretty much make out how many of the Outcasts were dead and where his allies were fighting. Then Cloud spotted Fear, "Oh no."

"What?" asked Wymond.

Across where Fear was, Sam walked up toward the Outcast leader slowly. It took Sam a moment to realize who else was in the area, Aeris was finishing off the last of her Outcast enemies, Fear was behind her.

"Ah, shit," Sam growled and changed his walk into a sprint, Fear drew his sword.

"Aeris, behind you!" Sam yelled.

She couldn't hear him.

"Deaf broad," Sam muttered and ran as fast as he possibly could, it appeared Feardorcha's rule on not killing fellow Cetra wasn't in effect anymore.

Fear brought the sword down and stabbed it into Aeris' back.

"Son of a bitch," Sam growled.

Fear looked confused, the sword wasn't in anyone's back, and Aeris was lying on the ground.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you it's not nice to _stab people_?" asked Sam, Fear's sword was in fact through Sam's stomach and not Aeris' back. Sam had pushed her out of the way.

Sam flipped his staff around and took the sharper jagged bottom and drove it violently into Fear's stomach, the Outcast stood in shock wide-eyed.

"Hurts, don't it, asshole?" asked Sam, Fear let go of his sword and Sam fell to the ground. Fear looked at the staff through his stomach and followed after.

"Sam!" Aeris yelled getting up and running over to him, she knelt down.

"Could you possibly pull the fucking sword out of my stomach?" asked Sam. "it's hard to get comfortable with the point sticking out of my back."

Cloud walked up and grabbed the hilt, "Ready?"

Sam nodded and Cloud ripped it out. Sam growled, his register of pain probably should have been a hell of a lot more, no one paid attention. There was also no blood.

"You saved me," Aeris said.

"Oh come on," Sam said, "no one here wanted to watch you get stabbed in the back twice, that's just getting old at this point."

Tifa ran over and knelt down at Sam's other side, "What happened?"

"I've fallen and I can't get up," Sam said grinning, "no I'm alright, give me a minute."

"You're alright?" asked Tifa.

"Yeah," Sam said, and then to everyone's shock he turned to his right and used his arms to push himself to his feet. "Gonna have some serious heartburn for a while, though."

"How…?" asked Aeris.

"Your memory is so bad during death scenes," Sam said, "what was my job as a Cetra before I became an Outcast?"

Aeris seemed to realize the answer, "Of course."

"What?" asked Tifa.

"I was given the exciting job of transporting dead people to the Lifestream," Sam said, "I'm the freaking Grim Reaper, death incarnate! You can't kill me I'm death itself, I work _for _the Lifestream, you can't just throw a guy like me back in there."

"Bastard," Fear growled lying on the ground.

"Him on the other hand," Sam said, "he can go back any time."

There was, unlike Sam, a lot of blood coming from Fear's wound.

"Samael!" came the yell of a female voice. They all turned to see the last standing Outcast.

"Charna, wondering when you'd show up," Sam said, "for the memory of our past lives, I'll give you five minutes to run away, the Outcasts are finished."

"You killed Fear," Charna said.

"That I did," Sam replied casually.

Charna drew her sword, "Revenge will be mine."

"Revenge will be yours," Sam said looking at the others, "there's _cheesy lines 101_ in Cetra school. Never took the course though, I was also more for _Dramatic Arts_ myself."

"Do you really think you can kill me, Sam?" asked Charna walking toward him, sword readied.

Sam looked at her for a long moment, "I think you're right, I can't kill you. Not for lack of skill, in fact you're the sole person in the Outcasts I can claim to be completely unable to kill, because in some psychotic logic I still love you."

Sam pointed behind Charna, "My buddy, Vincent, however, he can."

Charna looked over her shoulder; behind her was Vincent Valentine no longer Chaos. His revolver aimed right at her.

"So, you have five minutes to run away," Sam said, "start leaving."

Charna let out a war cry and threw her sword at Sam. Vincent fired and the bullet impacted directly in the back of her head.

The blade flipped end over end toward Sam, the aim was dead on, unfortunately the velocity left something to be desired. Sam caught the weapon as it neared him and he looked at it almost sadly.

"Sorry," he muttered and then tossed the sword away.

"Where's Mardra?" asked Wymond.

"Dead," Vincent said walking toward the others.

There were no Outcasts left to fight.

--Well, it appears that time has come the next chapter will be the last. It's the saddest moment in FF history since Aeris dying or…that scene where Rinoa goes off because she's a sorceress…whatever. My point is, this story is almost done, so, for the sake of dramatic effect I will have my good bye author note on this page instead of ruining the last page with it. This sorta feels like I won a Grammy or something but I would like to thank the people who read and reviewed this story, your reviews alone kept me going. Every time I read one it just made me want to write more so _merci buckets. _A small thanks to Squaresoft for creating FF7 (because they weren't Square-Enix yet) you people are geniuses though they will never read this. And for any of those who are reading this I may yet write another FF7 Fanfic as I'd like to stay in this realm, maybe a sequal to this story perhaps. In any case if I do I likely won't be able to post as fast as I did for this one because school starts again soon and as I'm sure most of you are aware that does take up one's time. In any case, again, thanks a lot for reading hate it or not it is what it is…and it is about to be over, hope you like the ending, _au revoir_. (no I'm not French in any way I just sometimes throw it in here and there.)


	35. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Samael sat silently on a rock staring off at the field where the black building used to stand. When the power plant was destroyed and the Outcasts were defeated the black building held no more connections to Centre Time and then promptly disappeared.

The image of Charna getting Vincent's bullet in the back of the head ran through his mind a million times. He wished he could have found a better outcome for her. Maybe it was he just wished she'd never left for the now dead and gone Feardorcha. If there had been some way to keep her out of the Outcast ranks Sam would have done it, but there was no way. Charna had been a lost cause and he knew that, but couldn't or didn't want to accept it.

"You okay? You should be happy," Tifa said walking up slowly behind him and sitting down on the same large rock.

"I'm a hypocrite," Sam muttered, "I talk a lot about moving on and forgetting the past, but I can't really do it myself. It's a better idea in theory than anything else."

"Maybe we're not really meant to forget," Tifa said, "maybe your idea of moving on is a bit extreme."

"Yeah," Sam muttered.

"That Charna, how long were you two together?" asked Tifa.

"Not long enough," Sam replied.

"I know what it would be like if I had to go up against one of my friends, I couldn't do it either," Tifa said understandingly. "I'm not sure I could have let Vincent do it for me either, you're a stronger person than I am."

"I gave her a chance, I tried to…" Sam trailed off, "she believed in that lunatic's cause and it got her killed like all the other Outcasts."

"They wanted to bring back their people," Tifa said, "to them it was worth dying for."

Sam just shook his head.

"If it's any consolation you helped me," Tifa said.

"How so?" Sam asked sounding uninterested.

"You and Wymond, you both helped me move on, it helps Vincent didn't actually die," Tifa said smiling, "but you helped me try and get over Cloud and Aeris, I guess. I always realized I'd never be able to be in her place as much as I would have liked to."

"Don't pretend that was my doing, I'm no psychiatrist, you came to the conclusion on your own, I don't practice what I try to preach," Sam muttered.

"It was you," Tifa said, "whether you believe it or not, in the short, extremely short, time I've known you you've helped me with my own mind more than I ever could have alone."

"I spent a few decades consoling dead people heading toward the Lifestream, guess that's why I happen to have some skill in that area," Sam said.

"Come on," Tifa said smiling, "we just saved the world…again, don't sit up here alone come back to the group. Even Vincent isn't doing his sit in the corner alone thing anymore."

"Well, that might have something to do with the fact he's got a girlfriend now apparently," Sam said grinning.

"Depending on how long you stick around you might have one, too," Tifa said standing up and walking away.

"Wait," Sam said looking over his shoulder, "what does that mean?"

Tifa walked away.

Back near the Highwind the group sat around each giving their own version of the battle from their point of view. Sam joined them in the middle of Cid's retelling.

"Then one of those bastards chopped my cigarette right in half, would've taken my nose off if I hadn't moved," Cid said angrily, "more pissed about the wasted cigarette personally."

"Hey, Sam," Cloud said, "you alright?"

"I'll live," Sam replied.

"So what happens now, exactly?" asked Red XIII.

"Well, in the textbook answer, Aeris, Wymond and I go poof and return to the Lifestream," Sam said.

"Textbook only?" asked Tifa.

"What are you getting at, Sam?" asked Wymond worriedly.

"We just saved existence as we know it, single handedly and none of us died…well in the literal sense," Sam replied, "I say we stick around."

"You might be able to do that but Aeris and I can't," Wymond said. "If we stay out of the Lifestream too long then our connection will be severed and it'll be known we're not where we're supposed to be."

"That's true," Sam said nodding.

"It's alright," Aeris said smiling a little, "I hadn't planned on staying."

Cloud nodded, "You can't mess with the whole time/space…thing."

"Let's go Wym…" Sam raised his hand and cut Aeris off.

"Actually, yes I can," Sam said.

"Sam, I really think…" Sam waved off Wymond, too.

"Look, let's face it, neither Aeris nor Cloud want her to leave," Sam said, "so Merry Christmas, guess what, I'm Santa Claus, she's not leaving."

"Sam…" Wymond muttered shaking his head.

"Come on, Wymond, my big ol' guardian buddy, you and I both know breaking the rules isn't that hard for me," Sam said.

"I have to bring her back, Sam," Wymond said.

"No…you don't," Sam replied.

"It's my job, I can't…" Wymond trailed off hopelessly.

"Cloud," Sam said smiling, "the only way you and Aeris can see each other is to leave Centre Time."

"What?" asked Aeris.

"If you end up in a different existence you're a wild card, like me, there's no rules binding you," Sam said, "I'm a romantic guy, I like to see the guy get the girl, alright? So hear me out. You and Aeris book it out of Centre Time and set up shop somewhere else, anywhere else. Being out of your element, and being important as both of you are, there's nothing the big cheeses in Cetra-ville can do. Then you can do whatever you two want to, being you're the key, Cloud, you can come back any time with Aeris for a visit."

"Sam, doing something like this could…" Wymond began.

"…could create a super happy ending, and you know I can find a loophole to make it happen my friend, that's what I do," Sam cut him off.

Cloud looked to Aeris and she looked back.

"I don't mind breaking the rules if you don't," Cloud said.

Aeris smiled.

"Yahtzee!" Sam said. "Alright, cool, so get outta here then."

"Right now?" asked Aeris.

"Sooner the better," Wymond said reluctantly, "due to this little disruption your movements will likely go unnoticed."

"What about you?" asked Aeris.

Sam put his arm around Wymond's shoulders, "Me and guardian man are gonna stick around and do the pretending to be alive again thing. This whole fucking up of time thanks to the Outcasts means we can pretty much do whatever we want."

"You still owe me a trip through time, remember," Tifa reminded smiling.

Sam nodded and then whispered to Wymond, "Bide my time, who knows what else can come from this, eh?"

Wymond closed his eyes, "Sam, do I look like I really care what…things…you're planning?"

"No, not really," Sam said walking away from Wymond, "but that's why I say things."

"So you and Aeris are gonna be gone for a while I guess," Barret said.

"Off in whatever world they choose, but like I say, they can come back," Sam said. "Whatever you two choose to do out there is your call, it's a big wide world with a whole lot more big wide worlds in other existences, take advantage of it!"

So then it was settled it seemed, Aeris and Cloud would take a trip to another existence to defy the laws of time and space and be together. Sam and Wymond would stay in Centre Time to break the laws of time and space and pretend to live their lives a second time along with the allies they'd fought beside to defeat the Outcasts.

In more than one way, the world and all its existences were made to the absolute right and just positions they were meant to, ideally, have. Everybody was happy.

Sam looked up at the sky and smiled, "Second chances."

"I know a thing or two about those," Vincent said standing beside him, "though I feel I may be on my third or fourth."

"You can never have too many," Tifa said standing on Sam's other side.

"So," Sam said, "what do you alive people do for fun around here?"

"I wouldn't know," Vincent said, "I'm technically not one of the alive people."

"Well, why don't you take me on that longer alternate existence trip you promised and we'll see where we can go from there," Tifa said smiling.

Sam nodded, "Alright, to the end of the world of all worlds and back again."

"How far can I go?" asked Tifa.

"As far as you want," Sam replied.

"You can do that, just like that?" asked Tifa.

"I'm not really allowed to, but for you beautiful, I'll find a loophole," Sam smiled at Tifa, "I always do."

_**The End**_


End file.
